Color Coded Madness
by ChayneRaection
Summary: When a mysterious ring is brought into the Akatsuki by Tobi, chaos erupts. As it makes it's way from member to member, they learn no one is safe. Will someone be smart enough to realize it's a mood ring and get rid of it once and for all?
1. Tobi's Discovery

**This is my first fanfiction so I hope it goes well. Hm, I'll start by saying there will be OOC-ness but then this **_**is**_** a humor/parody fic. I don't own Naruto and never will. The only thing I own here…would be the plot.**

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Flowers swayed left to right as a breeze swooped by but then rattled harshly as a masked ninja wearing an Akatsuki cloak ran past them. Without even looking back, Tobi kept his eyes forward, careful not to get hurt by running into a tree and having his playtime cut short. He had snuck outside the hideout at an attempt to get rid of the boredom that's seemed to be stalking him the entire day. Going outside seemed like the perfect solution though since he could feel the boredom seeping away but things just got better for the child-like ninja. 

"Ooooh, what's that?" he asked out loud. Seconds ago, he had stopped dead in his tracks as he spotted something shining in the grass. It didn't seem big but it was very shiny in the sunlight...and Tobi loves shiny things.

Without even bothering to put what ninja skills he has to use, he threw all caution to the wind and quickly made his way over to it. "_Tobi found a penny!!!"_ he screamed in his head as he clumsily ran over to the object. Looking down at it, Tobi discovered it was simply a ring.

"How pretty!" Tobi whispered and he picked up the ring to look at it some more. "Who would leave a nice ring like this on the ground?"

After moments of examining the ring, Tobi looked up and then around. If it weren't for the mask hiding his face, he would have looked like a kid in a candy store. He simply slipped the ring on his finger and was amazed it even fit him. How lucky would you be to find a nice ring and have it fit you? The moment the ring settled onto Tobi's finger, it came to life and became a rich blue color. Seeing the color of the ring suddenly change made him even more attracted to it. "_It changed color! I wonder if it'll turn purple...Tobi likes purple..._" he thought to himself. The cheerfulness and color of the ring quickly changed when a thought hit him, "_What will the others think_?" The thought made him feel a tugging sensation in his chest and it seemed to have affected the ring since it transformed into a dark yellow.

It was like a fact that no one in the group wore jewelry besides the usual Akatsuki rings. Sure, Hidan wears a Jashin necklace but it's his religion, which is understandable. Itachi also wears a necklace but it doesn't matter...because he is Itachi. Having Tobi return with a ring would make him the laughing stock of the organization and be looked down on even more.

Being so caught up in his depressed thoughts, Tobi looked to see the ring being it's now dark yellow color but the moment he questioned himself about it, it quickly jumped to orange. Though he may have found the ring minutes ago, he was very attached to it and figured he would have to plan a way to sneak the ring back in with him. His little idea seemed easier than actually done. How could you hide a color-changing ring from a group of the most cunning ninja?

Taking his eyes from the ring, Tobi looked up at the clouds that seemed to be watching him. It was then he made up his mind about what to do.

"_Tobi'll just have to hide it from them._"

* * *

Part one of the mission had already been completed, return to the hideout. Now, Tobi was on part two, to go to his room and stash the ring. He wasn't yet sure if he would keep it to admire or wear it when no one is around though. Turning a corner, he picked up the speed of his steps as he was on the home stretch but it all came to a shattering halt. 

"Tobi! Where were you?"

Snapping his head around, he saw Zetsu with his golden eyes focused on him. Being who he was, Tobi couldn't stand having someone be mad at him and he quickly apologized as he snuck the ring into his cloak pocket.

"I- I'm sorry. I was..." he explained in a hurry, trying come up with a good excuse so he could go. This all seemed too much for the poor ninja as he said even faster, "TOBI LIKES CHOCOLATE CAAAAAAAKE!!!!"

The answer seemed to just hang in the air as Zetsu watched Tobi run into his room, slamming the door behind him. He could feel the sweat drop running down his head as he watched it all happen. _"I didn't know he likes chocolate cake..."_

With a scratch of the head, Zetsu turned to leave the hall and entered the common room. As he entered, he took a quick sweep of the room. Kisame was going over childhood memories with his beloved pet fish. Hidan and Kakuzu were fighting...something about if a tomato is a vegetable or a fruit. Itachi was reading a book, or trying to anyway. Deidara was on the verge of tears because he got some clay in his hair. Sasori, Pein and Konan weren't in the room, which wasn't a surprise though.

Just the simple look of what everyone was doing was enough to make Zetsu leave. Sometimes he really did wonder about the welfare of his fellow group-mates. Before he would leave, someone seemed to have noticed his existence and asked, "Hey. Did you find Tobi?" Hearing the person's voice, Zetsu knew it was Kakuzu and then another voice came into the picture...a very pissed Hidan. "Oh, no you don't! Don't try to get out of this argument and who the fuck gives a rat's ass anyway? IT'S TOBI!" he yelled but Kakuzu tried to keep calm. "Hidan." he started and paused, "Shut the hell up."

It seemed as though the fighting had stopped right then and there before Hidan gasped and slapped his hand onto his chin, "I need to do my ritual!" With that simple statement, he went to leave before Kakuzu got in his way, "Oh, hell no! Your not gonna bleed all over the carpet, bitch!" A snort came from him and he smirked.

"Get outta my way, you sorry bastard."

"No. Having you bleed on the carpet is starting to cost a shit load of money to clean...A SHIT LOAD, HIDAN!! Besides, if you do, I'll kick your ass!"

"Oh, really now?"

"...Wait, I forgot you like that stuff. Fuckin' Jashin masochist..."

"WHAT?! SAY THAT AGAIN! I DARE YOU!!"

This one seemed to have been a harmless fight so everyone who was watching went back to whatever they was doing. You eventually learn that if it's a harmless fight, they'll argue until one of them gets tired. If it's a real fight, they'll be on the floor, trying to kill each other in two minutes flat and even then, no one'll bother to break it up.

"WILL YOU TWO SHUT THE FUCK UP?! YOU'RE SCARING MITSUKI!!"

The shout made everyone freeze and look at Kisame who was hugging the fish tank. It took a moment to register in their minds that Kisame's fish was named Mitsuki. Before Itachi could sigh to the silence in the room, it was broken by Hidan's cry that he still has to do his ritual and ran out the room to get his things.

"Psh. Pussy ass..." Kakuzu whispered as he watched Hidan make a mad dash out the room. Then he turned his attention to Zetsu who had not bothered to break up the fight much like the others. As if forgetting the fight ever happened, the masked ninja asked again, "So, did you find Tobi?"

Zetsu nodded and replied with a scratch to his chin, "Yes...but he was acting a bit weird though."

It wasn't that his words landed on deaf ears, just no one really cared since to them...Tobi always acts weird. "You mean weird like watching paint dry weird or-," someone asked before another member cut them off, "Forget it. He's always acting weird."

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**So, let's see how uneducated Akatsuki is when it comes to mood rings! Also...I don't own one so I made the colors and moods fit with the story. Deeper into it, I'll have a chart on it. Hm, for now, you can make your own and see if your right. Hugs to all who read this!**


	2. It Begins: Mitsuki's Death

**Hello, Kris here. Looks like no reviews yet. Is the story that bad, hm? I saw it made it on the list of two favorite stories lists which is great. Thanks so much! Enjoy!**

**Reminder: Don't own Naruto and never will...**

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_"I did it!"_

Looking down at the ring that was on his bed, Tobi mentally cheered himself as he sat beside it. By then, he had already taken off his cloak and shoes. It seemed as though a nap was in order and he didn't even try to fight it. Shoving the ring onto his finger, it brightened into the blue color it was when Tobi first put it on. The tired ninja didn't even notice as his eyelids drooped down and he fell asleep.

* * *

Back in the common room, everything was normal...or as normal goes in the Akatsuki. Hidan had return from his ritual and was now continuing their fight with Kakuzu about if a tomato is a fruit of vegetable. Itachi was still trying to read his book...yes, still trying. Kisame was continuing his chat with Mitsuki. Deidara was sitting on the floor with a piece of clay in front of him but his eye widened when a growl rippled from his stomach. Placing a hand over it, he whined, "I'm hungryyyy!" 

Hearing the complaint, Itachi mumbled something to himself while concentrating even more on the book. Eventually, the whining made him snap and he glared at Deidara. "If your so hungry, then go and make something to eat." he said slowly, his eye randomly twitching as he spoke. The look on the bomber's face seemed like one of those, 'That's just crazy enough to work' expressions when Kisame jumped into the conversation.

"Nuh-uh! Deidara's not cooking shit!"

"And why is that, Kisame?"

"'Cause, remember last time? He exploded the kitchen when you told him cooking is an art just so you could get him to shut up and make dinner. We had to eat pizza and Chinese food for two weeks!"

"Ah, that's right..." Itachi nodded as if he was having the memory run through his mind, "That place did have good pizza. But you had to go and butcher all of the people there. I mean, who cares if they had anchovy pizza?"

"I'm still hungry!" Deidara almost yelled as if he would fall over from starvation at any moment. To this, Itachi rolled his eyes and stood up from his seat, offering that he'd make lunch for everyone. Stepping one foot into the kitchen, Kisame blurted out, "Itachi, you can't cook!" After the outburst, the lights seemed to have dimmed and the temperature got cut in half.

"What do you mean, 'Itachi, you can't cook!'?" he asked in a cold, murderous voice. This seemed to have sparked the attention of the arguing Hidan and Kakuzu and caused chaos in the room.

* * *

Back in Tobi's room, the noise from the common room easily made it's way inside. As Tobi rolled over to try to go back to sleep, his ring plunged into a pitch-black color. "Tobi doesn't wanna wake up." he whined to himself but since he was already awake, what was the point of trying to go back to sleep? Getting off his bed, he put his ring into his pants pocket and went into the common room to see what the noise was about. 

As he entered the common room, the first thing he saw was Itachi furiously chopping an onion through the enterance way leading into the kitchen. He wasn't even crying like cutting onions does to you but then he had to tears to begin with. "Tobi, get over here." he ordered the moment he saw newly arrived ninja. When he got beside the Uchiha, he continued to speak and he shoved what was left of the onion to him, "Here. Your turn to make lunch." Once Itachi got done with that, he left the kitchen but stopped in the doorway to look at Tobi, "Do it or you'll be crying for a week...and it won't be because of onions." The clear image of the Ronald McDonald clown came to Tobi's mind and he nodded his head, "Okay! Tobi is a good boy!"

Seeing that he was alone, Tobi put the ring back on his face and smiled. Yup. This ring was definatly a keeper. Looking down at the onion, he wondered what to make with it. Itachi never did tell him what he was planning on making or anything. "What should Tobi make?" he questioned and he took a swipe through his hair, his ring changing to orange in the process. "Oh, well. Tobi'll make yummy soup."

While singing out the alphabet, Tobi got the pot and filled it with some water. Now, he was cutting the vegetables. He decided that he'd make a simple vegetable soup and had some rice on the side, just in case the soup didn't turn out to be a hit. As he cooked, he continued to sing himself the alphabet over and over. "L, M, N, O, Q...wait. Ah, Tobi forgets." he mumbled to himself as he stirred the soup which looked finished.

Putting on the oven mitts, he picked it up and placed it on the counter, forgetting to turn off the burner first. "It's done!" Tobi sang out, throwing his hands up which made one of the oven mitts come off and land on the burner. Instantly, it got submerged in flames but Tobi didn't even notice as he was busying getting the plates for everyone. "Huh? Tobi? You got something else cooking? Something smells like it's burning." Kakuzu asked, a bit worried since if food were burning, then it would just be wasted. Food wasn't cheap, you know. The swirling masked ninja shook his head, replying that he made the soup and rice, which was sitting on the other counter. "Well, something is burning!" he said back with a glance around the room and he finally he saw the oven mitt on fire.

"HOLY FUCKING JASHIN. TOBI, YOU LITTLE SHIT!" Kakuzu screamed, "THAT OVEN MITT COST ME TWO DOLLARS AND IT WAS ON SALE!!!"

Knowing Kakuzu would have his head if he didn't put the fire out quick, Tobi looked around for something to put the fire out with. He was so caught up in the moment, he forgot all about the ring that was now on his uncovered hand. "Tobi can fix it!" he rushed, wagging his hands as he looked around. Forgetting there was a sink in the kitchen to get water from and douse the fire with it, he peered into the living room and saw Mitsuki in her tank. His eyes locked onto the water inside of it and made a run for the tank. What happened next scarred Kisame for the rest of his life.

As he made a run for the tank, he grabbed it and shouted again, "Tobi can fix it!" When he made his way back, he tipped the tank over and the water crashed onto the fire but it still raged. "RETARD!" Kakuzu boomed, "You gotta turn off the burner!" The shout made Tobi jump and drop the tank, shattering on impact to turn off the burner. Just when everything seemed over, another voice boomed into the room.

"**MITSUKI!!! BASTARD, YOU KILLED HER! YOU KILLED MITSUKI!**"

This sad cry came from no other than Kisame who was crying his eyes out, his body trembling. "Swear to Jashin I'll...I'll..." he threatened but couldn't get past his tears to say the complete sentence. Breaking into one giant sob, the shark-like ninja ran out the room, his voice echoing down the hall. Tobi looked down to the water drenched floor with a frown on his face though no one could see. "Well, you sure did it now." Hidan said with a shake of the head as he watched Kakuzu collect the remains of the oven mitt. As he did it, he pushed the now charcoal-black fish out of the ruins, showing no sympathy for the creature.

Tobi began to shake as tears filled his eyes. Slowly, he whispered, "Tobi didn't mean to kill Mitsuki..." but no one responded, probably since they didn't hear his whisper. With every fidget the crying ninja would made, the ring would slide lower and lower on his wet fingers from when he grabbed the fish tank.

Breaking into the depressing moment, Deidara looked down at the glass and back up to the others. "So..." he started, "Is anyone gonna eat the rice or what?" he asked with a shrug, not caring about what just happened.

This seemed to be the icing on the cake as Tobi, like Kisame, burst into monster sobs and ran out the room. During this, the ring completely slipped from his finger and landed in one of the many puddles of water on the floor. Everyone watched but didn't bother to stop him since they knew how Tobi was about such things. "He'll get over it..." Itachi sighed and the others nodded.

As a door could be heard being shut, which was most likely Tobi entering his bedroom, Deidara was already greedily eating the rice. He swallowed with a smile and cheered not even caring if his comment was heard or not, "This rice kicks ass!"

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**So, chapter two is down and I'm wishing you guys enjoyed it. Just a little note, the oven mitt incident really did happen at my house...minus the whole fish tank thing though. Anyway, I should have the next chapter up soon but having some encouragement does help. Hugs to all!**


	3. A Sign?

**Finally, the new chapter is up. I apologize for the wait and I just now disabled the block against any anonymous reviews. I'm a slow person! Wahh! Anyway, the rest is just the usual. Don't own Naruto and the text in italics are thoughts. Enjoy.**

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"Really, Sasori. Sometimes I wonder if you had a heart attack and died in that room of your's." he said after Sasori had insisted that he should leave. At this time, the fish tank accident was left un-explained and sadly, no one questioned Kisame's un-usual eye color or why he didn't want to eat since he usually eats his plate and any leftovers from the others. The body of Mitsuki was still in the kitchen but now, a Kleenex tissue was draped over her. Someone would have to do the honors of flushing her before the day was over. Still on the floor of the kitchen was the ring Tobi had found but now it was pushed beside the counter when the floor was mopped of the water.

Now that everyone was almost done their meals, it seemed as though the funeral should be brought up. With a look around, Kisame stood up and cleared his throat with a tremble. "Um...I have an announcement." he began, not too sure how to word what he wanted to say, "Earlier today...Mitsuki was killed and I'd...like to have a funeral for her." Saying this was hard for him but it was another step closer to accepting her death but it still hurt him as he began to cry. The only ones to stare was Pein, Konan and Sasori...for a few seconds before he looked away. "Who the hell's Mitsuki?" Konan asked rudely but with a serious tone which only made Kisame's tears double in size. The drama was too much for one day and Kakuzu really thought that as he said, "You gotta be fucking kidding me. Mitsuki, Kisame's pet fish. Tobi killed her by accident and now he wants to have a funeral for her."

The answer to Konan's question didn't even help as Kisame screamed, "SHE WASN'T MY PET! SHE WAS MY FRIEND AND I WAS GOING TO ASK HER OUT!!" For the second time that day, everyone fell silent because of his words. "Dude..." was all Kakuzu whispered but then Pein took charge with a stand out of his chair. "I'm sorry about the of your would-be...girlfriend and a funeral would seem nice. When everyone is finished eating, we will have a funeral for your Mitsuki."

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Everyone was finished eating and the funeral was starting. Each Akatsuki member squeezed into one of the bathrooms with the dead fish in the toilet. No one spoke but probably because they just wanted it to end and go on with their lives. The only one who was serious about the funeral was Kisame who sniffled randomly and took quick wipes of his eyes. "Well?" someone asked, "Who's gonna start yapping so we can get the hell out of here?" and then all eyes were on Hidan. Confused, he looked around and with a, "You motherfuckers can't be serious...", he began to talk though it came out like a very made-up-as-it-went-along speech but it was one anyway. 

"So, now, we say good-bye to the fish who had a two second attention span." Hidan ended with a dramatic cry from Kisame. Reaching for the tab, the toilet was flushed as he whispered a quick, "I love you" and ran out the bathroom...which meant stepping on Zetsu's foot and pushing Konan completely out of the bathroom in the process.

* * *

Running into the kitchen, Kisame wanted to see where his precious Mitsuki had died. Though it seemed like a fish...or maybe even less to the others, it was like the world's supply of ice-cream to him. Something like this would really take time to fully get over but for now, he just wanted to be alone. 

He looked down at the floor, a clip of the fish tank dropping to the floor going through his mind when he frowned. Already, he could feel more tears coming but at a time like this, it wasn't good to bottle anything up so he just cried. Kisame grabbed a roll of bounty and wiped his eyes as he looked at his feet, swearing in his mind he could see the shadow of a gray cloud hanging over his head. Instead of seeing a shadow of a gray cloud, he saw something completely different. A ring.

"_Could this be a sign?_" he wondered to himself, staring at the ring and it staring back. The color was a dull gray which made Kisame's frown even out, "_Heh, it's gray...just like how I feel..."_ and with that thought, he grabbed the ring and just held it in his hand for a moment. As he did, he still wondered if it was some type of sign. It was then he noticed how much of the day was still left and than it would most likely be dragged by. Mindlessly putting the ring into his pocket, he went to his room. The mist ninja didn't feel like being around people or anything, just alone in his room.

* * *

Hours had past and no one had seen or heard from Kisame. The sky was already growing dark as evening was coming to take the afternoon's place. Each minute, it grew darker and Tobi grew more frantic. "_Where is Tobi's ring?!_" the ninja screamed in his head as he searched through his room. The blanket to his bed had been tossed onto the floor, his pillow on top of it. The draws to his desk and dresser, open with clothing hanging over the edges of his dresser draws. 

After what seemed like a lifetime of searching, a knock on the door snatched Tobi from his frantic searching. Slowly, he looked at the door but didn't go to open the door. It was then that another knock was made but this time enough to make the door quake. "Tobi, get the hell out here. I hate waiting!" was all that was said on the other side.

"Yes, Sasori?" the masked ninja asked when he opened his door.

"You seen Kisame? It's his turn for grocery shopping." He explained in a rush to go back to whatever he was doing. Tobi shook his head and just replied, "No but I'll tell him. I was looking for my ri-…ring of flowers! Yeah so Tobi can dance around like a pretty fairy!"

Hearing this, Sasori got a mental image of Tobi trotting around with a ring of flowers on his head. He didn't say anything but kept quiet for a moment and then nodded as if he didn't hear anything. "Great. I need to go and fix one of my puppets' nails. It broke again." He mumbled as he rushed off.

When that was done, Tobi went to Kisame's room and knocked on the door but no answer. He had to be there since Tobi had taken a full swept of the hide-out. Another knock and still no answer so a note was left. "There", he sighed as he folded the paper and slipped it under the door and left.

* * *

In Kisame's room, he had heard the knock on the door but didn't answer, still wanting to be alone. He still had the ring in his hands, feeling as though he could relate to it's gray color. A random thought past his mind about how it could look on him. It didn't seem to be a ring just for females or males but for either gender so he put it on. The gray color darkened into a black as Kisame just stared on. 

He turned his head to the paper on the floor that Tobi had left for him. Getting up, he just kept staring at it until he slowly made his way to it. When the paper was un-folded, Tobi's chicken-scratch was visible but he was able to read it. "Aw, man. My turn already?" he whined as he folded it back up and put it on his table. Something like this would be done later. For now, he wanted to sleep or do something to make a new day some sooner so he could start fresh.

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**Hm, what horrors will happen to Kisame now that he has the ring? -Kisame shivering in the background- Has anyone been keeping track of the ring's colors and moods? Probably, probably not but who knows. Now that it's Friday and I don't have any homework, the next chapter should be up quick. Hugs to all!**


	4. The Supermarket Will Set You Free

**Just as I promised, here's the chapter four. I'm already planning on who should get the ring next and what unfortunate event will happen to them. I tried to make this chapter long so hopefully it goes good. I still don't own Naruto but I do enjoy some of the things on the shopping list! Hm, enjoy! **

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Kisame had gotten up bright and early for the grocery shopping. He had finished taking a shower and was getting dressed. When he was done, he put on his ring and instead of it being black or gray it turned blue. "That's a new one." he noted out loud since it was the first time he'd seen it blue. Wearing a blue ring when in the Akatsuki wasn't so bad, right? At least it wasn't yellow or something. Besides, the ring looked like it was one of those meant for both genders so no one could criticize that it looked girly.

* * *

Leaving his room, he went into the kitchen and found the usual list of things to get while at the grocery store with some money beside it. Like with jewelry, it was practically a rule that when someone would go out shopping, a list of things to buy would be made to make sure nothing gets forgotten. All the members take turns buying groceries except for Kakuzu who showed them all he wasn't fit to do it by stealing food from a soup kitchen and a shelter. His defense: "Hey, it was there and it was free!" 

He ran his eyes down the list that was divided into sections, one for each member. Folding it in half and in half again, he pushed it into his pocket. Then, he took the money and put it in his other pocket. What self-respecting Akatsuki carried a wallet with them anyway? Well, maybe Konan but she has a pretty good reason to.

* * *

As he entered the supermarket in a small town not to far from the where he and the others lived, he saw it was just about empty. This town was a small one where not too many people lived so it wasn't crowded at any time but then it was fairly early. It was also close by so going food shopping would be a trip and a half. Grabbing a cart, Kisame pushed it into the first aisle as he looked onto the list, "_Who's first?_" 

Pein: Toilet paper, Chicken, Steak, Rice, Bounty, Dish soap, Laundry soap, Softener, Ice-cream, Foil, Mashed potato mix, Air freshener, Old Spice deodorants, Peaches and cream shampoo, Peach and cream conditioner, Bath soap, Toilet cleaner, Bath/shower cleaner, Eggs, Bread, Ham, Turkey, Purple nail polish, Cotton balls, Nail polish remover, Milk, Butter

The leader always had the longest one but he did put the main things to buy. Everyone else was just supposed to put little things that they wanted for themselves. Getting all of this would take a while but Kisame was on it. Finally, he was finished and slightly tired. At least the rest wouldn't be as long.

Kakuzu: Plastic green piggybank, Frozen blueberry pancakes, Orange juice

Going into the aisle dedicated to things such as piggybanks, cheap toys and such, he managed to get the first item Kakuzu had wanted. It seemed like every month, he would want a new piggybank, which means he must be loaded with money, but then that was always expected of him. After that, Kisame went to get the blueberry pancakes and the orange juice. When he placed a container of orange juice in the cart, he looked back at the list.

Hidan: Gel, Hairspray, Moose, Frozen waffles, Bible, Apple juice

Lord, it was the something every time...loads of things for his hair. Rolling his eyes to the first three items, Kisame went to get them. When he saw the last three items, he sighed. It seemed like he had an obsession with bibles and seeing that he put waffles and apple juice was like proof him and Kakuzu were opposites. With a quick laugh at the thought, he went to get the rest of the things.

Konan: Tea, Flavored water, Tylenol, Healthy choice frozen dinners, Strawberry body wash, Secret deodorant, Breakfast shakes

Now, this looked like a decent shopping list. She was one of the few who always made a good list of things she wanted. It was extra useful since if you had her for the yearly Secret Santa. All you would have to do was go into her room and look for her Christmas list. Kisame got almost all her things and was now looking along the shelves for her strawberry body wash and secret deodorant. Finding the body wash, he couldn't help but open it and smell it. Sighing at the sweet smell, he put it into the cart, "_Damn, I should get one for myself_."

He past all the men deodorants and saw the secret ones. "She never put which one to get..." Kisame told himself out loud but slowly, thinking as he spoke. They had a long range of scents, which he cursed the company for. It only made picking one even harder. Peering into the cart, he saw the strawberry body wash, "_Wonder if they have strawberry deodorant so it can match_." he thought to himself. Turned himself back to the shelf, he looked for strawberry scented deodorant. He must have been there for twenty minutes until he turned careless. "Ah, screw it." he sighed as he tossed a coconut scented one into the cart, "She seems like the coconut type anyway."

Tobi: Juice boxes, Animal crackers, Zoo pal plates, Brownies

No one understood why but Tobi was one of the people who asked for the oddest things when it came to grocery shopping. The third item caused Kisame to stare at the paper. Getting everything but the plates, he wondered if Tobi was serious about wanting them. Eventually, he answered his own question when he remembered Tobi eating from a frog one while singing, "Ribbit, ribbit! Zoo pals!" or something like that. Going into the aisle, he managed to find them quickly because of their bright colors and animal faces. Maybe that's why Tobi loves them so much. Tossing them on top of the apple juice from earlier, Kisame took a new look at the list.

Sasori: Light bulbs

His lists had to be the shortest ones in history but then he didn't eat so what was there to really put? Spending so much time in his room, the light bulbs were bound to quickly pop. It didn't take long to get what Sasori wanted so he was back looking at the list in no time.

Itachi: Eye drops, Band-aids, Happy bunny slippers, Captain crunch cereal, Coffee, Bottled water

The first two items were always the same. Eye drops for when his eyes would be kill him and band-aids if he ever hurt himself by walking into something...which happens just about everyday. The slippers request was a bit random but then if it's what he wanted. Turning the cart, he went to get the rest of the items. "How much shit?" Kisame wondered as he put the water on the cart. He should have known better than to ask since it was the same every time.

Deidara: Clay, Strawberry cupcakes, Pepsi, Coca-cola, Sprite, Fanta, Cookie dough, Bacon

His shopping lists would always rival Tobi's when it comes to random-ness. The clay was easily gotten in the section of cheap toys and the cupcakes were in the next aisle. It was funny to Kisame how they put the sweets next to the toys like the manager planned it that way. The soda wasn't a big deal since they were all in the same aisle but it made him think if he really wanted so much soda, "_Eh. Probably where he gets his 'inspiration' from, being sugar high._" The cookie dough and bacon was in the same area so that wasn't a mission to get. "Who the hell puts bacon after all of that?" he said as he looked down at an Oscar Mayer pack of bacon. As he put the bacon into the cart, he knew there were two people left, himself and Zetsu.

Zetsu: Spray bottle, Plant food, Fertilizer, Sunlamp, Humidifier, Strawberries, Trail mix, Iced-tea, Pineapple, Watermelon, Nature valley granola bars, Bottled water

"What the fuck? Do they even sell fertilizer, sunlamps and humidifiers here?" Kisame said in half shock and half wonderment as he lifted his head to look around. Already, he knew about a quarter of the things on the list wouldn't be purchased. Kisame quickly bought what he could and went to get some things for himself. He was starting to get tired and wanted to wrap it up quick.

Speeding through the aisles, he got some frozen French fries, cans of Chef Boyardee, Banquet frozen dinners, root beer, and some other things. As he pushed the cart that was now over flowing with things to the front of the supermarket to pay for it, he looked out the windows. It was even brighter outside and probably around lunchtime, which meant they would be showing his soap opera soon.

He moved his cart into a line with only two people in front of him. As he waited, he mentally rushed the people ahead of him. Today's episode was going to be good and he didn't want to miss if Takashi was really the father of Yuki or not.

* * *

**I want to make an early warning for the next chapter. There's going to be...man-love for Kisame! -dun dun dunnn- But, seriously, it's not going to be anything major. Just hitting on and winking but if you don't like it, then skip the next chapter. Honestly, I don't mind since everyone has their own views and things. Hugs to all!**


	5. Guys & Pink Rings

**Hey, Kris here with a new chapter. I want to remind everyone again like in my previous chapter: There is man love for Kisame but it's really minor, not even kissing. Just hitting on and winking. Also, please don't feel offended by the title of this chapter. If you're a dude that likes pink stuff or whatever, woot for you! Now...the regular stuff. I don't own Naruto though I have fun writing chapters for this story. The text in italics is thoughts, yaddah, yaddah, hm. Okay! On with the chapterrrrrr!**

* * *

Being desperately bored, he began to tap his fingers against the iron handle of the shopping cart, causing random tunes to sound. They went from random rhythm to the beat of the opening song to his soap opera. As he did, he looked ahead of him to see what could have been taking so long. Leaning to the left, then to the right to get a better view of what was going on, he caught the eyes of the cashier staring at him. Surprised by the sudden eye contact, Kisame's head dropped down, breaking the contact. Figuring it was nothing; he carried on tapping his fingers against the bar. The person ahead of him moved up and began to put her things on the conveyor belt. Slowly, Kisame also moved up and thanked the lord when he noticed that the woman only wanted to buy a few things. 

She worked quickly as all her items were already on the belt and she pushed her cart forward again to the end, where she could bag her groceries after they got scanned. As she moved, Kisame also moved and began to un-load his groceries onto the belt. With so many items to unload, it annoyed him to think he'd just have to bag everything in the end. When he got halfway through everything, he paused and waited until there was more room on the conveyor belt to continue. While he was waiting, he watched the items gets past along, into the cashier's hands, scanned and then placed back down onto the second belt. Looking up to see how much everything was coming out to, he bumped into the eyes of the cashier again but he just continued moving his eyes to the screen.

Putting more items on the belt, he began to think, "_Why does he keep staring at me?_" and noticed that it was slowly becoming annoying. In his mental rage, Kisame picked up the speed and was quickly done unloading the cart and pushed it forward to the second conveyor belt. During this, he spotted the ring sporting a fiery red color but never bothered to think anything of it. Red was a nice color anyway and it went very well with the Akatsuki cloaks.

Kisame walked back in front of the cashier and waited for him to finish so he could pay. He didn't want to wait long since he wasn't much of a fan of the man scanning his items because of the constant staring. Seeing that there was still a long line of items to be scanned, Kisame looked up at the monitor that kept track of what was scanned, the prices of the items and the total so far. Every beep meant a new item was scanned, making the list grow longer and the total get bigger. Already feeling bored; he took a curious look around and saw a beautiful woman in the next cash register. She had shiny brown hair to her elbows and emerald green eyes that Kisame stared at with a smile. Her skin was fair and she had the perfect nose to match her heart-shaped face. Slowly, a blush erupted over his face but he didn't notice. She seemed to have been getting her register ready, going through the mini computer, making sure there was enough bags for the customers to pack their groceries with.

The cashier must have mistake Kisame's blush and staring for himself than the brunette cashier that was behind him. He, too, began to smile and an equal blush made it's way over his cheeks.

"So, I'm Mori." the cashier started with a smile

Kisame only half-heard what he was told since so much attention was on the gorgeous woman. "Yeah..."

"Do you shop here regularly?"

"Yeah..."

The conversation was a slow one but still a conversation. As Mori continued to scan the items, he looked down to the ring on his customer's finger. It was a glowing pink that matched Kisame's dreamy blush. Spotting the pink ring, Mori assumed something and then took the dive.

Looking back up at Kisame, he asked, "...You single?"

"Yeah..."

"Lookin' for someone to go out with? I know a person who'd like a hot ass like yours."

"Yeah..."

"How 'bout we go out some time then?"

"Y-...Wait. What the hell!?!"

Mori's question seemed to have made time stop. Kisame stared at him with a look of horror and confused as his ring bounced into dark orange.

"Come on, handsome. You won't regret it." he said seductively with a wink.

"I don't go that way so stop right now and hurry up!" Kisame ordered, eager to leave the supermarket even more now. It wasn't that he hated gays he just wanted to leave. Honestly, he didn't care what they did as long as they didn't hit on him or ask him out.

After that, there was an awkward silence, the usual supermarket sounds randomly breaking in. It calmed him down a little but then with a look up to the monitor beside Mori. He must have taken it as cue to respond and that's just what he did. "Oh, someone's dominant! I like that! Any other things I should know about?" he whispered to Kisame as he rang up the last item.

Not even bothering to answer, he quickly made clones to pack the groceries into the bags while he stood to pay. "Your total is $254.95 and my phone number i-," he explained before money being thrown in front of him cut him off. "Take it!!" Kisame said quickly, not even bothering to count how much he gave the man. Rushing forward to be with his clones, he rushed some hand signs and poofed back to the base.

"Thank-you, my love!" Mori called out with a hyper wave.

* * *

Now, Kisame was back in the safety of his home and put away the groceries. He was still rushing though, the memories of what happened with Mori playing through his mind. When he was done, he separated the extras that the others wanted. A bag or two for each other with their requested items inside. Finishing with a sigh, Kisame stretched and hurried to see his soap opera.

* * *

Leaping into the common room, he saw Konan was there watching television. "Did it start yet?" he asked as he took a seat beside her. She shook her head, "No, not yet. You made it just in time though." This had to be one of the good parts about the group, because of so many people in it; you were bound to find someone who likes the same show as you do. 

The ending song began to play while the two continued to talk. "What took you so long? I was afraid you got sidetracked by the fish at the pet-store again." Konan said, turning her head to Kisame. He didn't answer but sat in silent. "Yeah. I did take longer than I wanted," he began with a little discomfort in his voice, "The cashier was hitting me on and wanted to go out with me."

"Really? What'd you say?" she asked with a smile, hoping Kisame picked up a new girlfriend.

"I said I didn't go that way." he simply answered and left Konan in silence. It took a while for this to go through her mind. Wasn't Kisame straight? "What do you mean yo-oh. It was a guy?"

"…Uh-huh"

"Ah! It's okay! Don't feel bad!"

All he did was nod as if saying, "Yeah, I guess..." and stand up from his seat at the couch. "Your stuff is in the living room. I'll be back. Call me when it starts." he told her and went to his room to change.

* * *

He had on his hanging-out clothing but left the ring on his desk as Kisame left his room and went down the hall. On his way to the common room, he bumped into Itachi...literally. "Sorry, Itachi." he apologized but only got a dazed nod in return. 

"Kisame, you have any glue that I could use?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's in my room. Why do you need glue anyway?"

"The painting in my room keeps falling down."

He wanted to remind Itachi that paintings usually hang on walls themselves by a nail and that glue isn't needed. "Okay bu-" he started but got cut off; "Thank-you" Itachi nodded and made his way to Kisame's room. Watching, he figured he could get the glue himself and went to the common room. Who couldn't miss a white bottle with light green and red on it?

* * *

Taking a step into Kisame's room, Itachi looked around. "_Damn. Should have asked where he has it_." he scolded himself but went to his desk first. Seeing nothing that looked like glue, he began to run his hands over the objects on the desk to make sure. This was one of the times he felt like a fully blind person instead of a half blind one. 

Pushing his hand over the wood, he shoved the ring onto the edge of the desk and then onto the floor. Itachi didn't even notice and eventually, he gave up on searching the desk. Taking a step to turn around, his foot landed on the ring and he cried out in pain. "Damn him for eating so many God damn cookies and leaving the fucking crumbs everywhere!" Itachi swore with pain almost instantly. Bending down to see how bad the damage was on his foot, he saw the gray ring and curiously picked it up. Staring at it, he wondered, "_Huh, look at this. Must be something he randomly picked up while being outside. Kisame probably doesn't even like this_ _stuff_." and he put it in his pocket. "_Gray looks better on me anyway_."

Going threw the draws of the desk, he found the glue and took it with a smile. "_Now I'll show that Note From Death painting who's boss!" _Itachi thought to himself as he slid the draw closed. Standing up straight, he went out into the hallway and to his room. While on his way, he stopped to cry and swear in pain again. The culprit: a cookie crumb.

* * *

**Tee hee. I admit that I had fun toying with him, hm. Now, you all know the next victim of the ring...Itachi! His misfortune is already planned out, just waiting to be typed and put up. Hopefully, I won't get lazy or kidnapped by school work and such. Random news...I went out this weekend and my parents wanted me to wear a hat. I hate hats, hmmmm!!! Freeeeedom! Anyway, hugs to all!**


	6. A mood ring?

**Finally, here is chapter six and to make up for any long waiting, I tried to make it longer than the others. Hm, this has been nagging at me for a while now so I'm going to get it off my chest...my little list of thank-yous. Thankies to Shippuden90706, Akatsuki'sReaper, Miu Tori and Sorikarona! Also, thanks to all my readers...I know you're out there. **

**Stuffies we all sadly know...I don't own Naruto!**

**--**

Banging noises came from Itachi's room and continued for the next half hour. Hearing the noises, Kakuzu kicked open the door and threw himself into the room. He didn't even bother to knock as he did all of this.

"The hell are you doing?!" he asked, fearing something was broken from the noises he heard and money would have to be spent.

Itachi didn't respond but just stared at the painting that was literally glued to his wall. Second after second, the painting inched lower and eventually fell onto the floor with a crash. Enduring so many falls already damaged the bottom of the painting. "This painting." he started as he picked it back up, "It won't stay up on the wall. The damned thing keeps falling no many how much glue I put on it."

Kakuzu didn't reply he just stared at Itachi and then to the painting. "_Is he seriously trying to put it up by using glue?_" he asked himself as he went to get a closer look. Getting beside him, he asked "Erm...you know your using glue to put up the painting, right?"

The other Akatsuki just nodded as if there was nothing wrong about using glue to put a painting up on a wall. "Shouldn't you put a nail in the wall and then hang it up like that?" Kakuzu asked. Itachistood quiet while put the painting and glue on his bed. "I should have thought of that...now, get out." he said with a glare and shoved Kakuzu out into the hall as he exited himself.

--

Itachi knew the perfect person who could give him some nails and a hammer to use and it was Sasori. With him building so many puppets, he just had to have nails and a hammer.

Stopping at his door, he knocked and waited which only lasted a few seconds when he got permission to come inside. As he came inside, he made his request for nails and a hammer. "What do you need those for?" Sasori asked, a bit curious to have Itachi randomly come and ask to borrow his things. It was then that he explained the whole painting issue and he slowly nodded. "_So that's what the banging noise was. My gosh, he really isn't the brightest one here, is he?_" Sasori thought to himself but then offered Itachi a box of nails and then a hammer. With the usual orders to hurry up, not mess up any of supplies, etc. he finally left.

--

Going back into his room, Itachi tried to hammer a nail into the wall to have a painting by. He was quickly going through the nails because of his awkward hammering which meant hitting the nail so the head of it bent to the left or right. Taking a moment to stop, he rubbed his throbbing eyes. It was from squinting at the nails so much that made them hurt so he went to get some eye-drops.

One drop in each eye and he was back at it. The box claimed to have 50 nails but with every hammer, the number slowly got lower. He even hit his own hand trying to correctly hammer a nail into his wall. He must have been there for some time since when he reached into the box, it was empty. Turned his head and looking into the box, Itachi cursed, "God fucking dammit!"

It looked he'd have to buy some more nails and worse of all, in the end; he wouldn't even be able to keep them. Since he borrowed them from Sasori, he'd have to give the new box back to him when he was finished. Itachi sighed at that and went to change to go outside. As he grabbed some money and put it into his pocket, he stopped and went to the pair of pants he previously had on to go through the pockets. Taking out the ring, he put it on and held out his hand to admire it quickly.

The smokey gray color it once was was now a blue and then to an orange once Itachi titled his head in confusion to the sudden color change. Seeing how it stood on orange, he continued out the room, dropping the topic. As he did, the ring went back to being blue though he didn't notice.

--

Itachi entered a hardware store and then into the section of nails and hammers. He didn't have to worry about the hammer, just getting more nails though. As he went through the section to look through everything, he discovered the range of sizes and lengths of the nails. "_Crap. What type did Sasori let me borrow?_" he asked himself with his finger to his lip, not able to remember anything about the nails he used. Putting his hand down to his side, "_Okay,"_ he decided, "_It was black..._" but then an awkward moment came over him and he scolded, "_Ugh, aren't all nails black?!_"

Being so wrapped into his own thoughts, Itachi didn't even notice the woman who seemed to have materialized beside him.

"Hi!" she chirped, "I'm Rae, how can I help you?"

Her cheery voice literally shook up Itachi as he jolted out from his mental argument with himself. He didn't say anything back but he did stare at the girl. "Okay...you can help me by telling me where the hell you came from." he said in a serious tone even though the girl laughed. "I work here and you seemed to be having a hard time with something." Rae explained with a sugar-pumped grin. It scared Itachi to think that they let people like her work where power tools and such were literally at ever turn.

Already the few moments he spent with her were making his headache. "Alright," he nodded, "I need to get some nails but I'm not sure what type and things to get."

Rae stared at Itachi with huge black eyes that sparkled like little crystals of sugar in coffee. "Okay! I can help!" she exclaimed with an even bigger smile, which amazed him. Grabbing a box, she tapped it with her finger, "It depends what you wanna do with the nails like if you want to build things and stuff." she explained. The box now had a dent in it from the brutal tapping but she didn't seem to notice. Hearing that, Itachi's ears perked up, "Yes. I would like nails for building things. Would this work for things like puppets and hanging up paintings?"

The girl nodded and replied, "Yup. You could make puppets, tree houses, tables, chairs and a bunch of other things!"

Her speech seemed to have picked up in speed and it seemed like there was no end to her talking. He sighed and closed his eyes as he brought a hand up to his forehead, "_Will she ever just shut the hell up?_" Itachi miserably wondered. His prayers were answered and he was rewarded with silence. Opening his eyes, he saw Rae just staring at him. "I'm sorry..." she suddenly said which confused Itachi, which somehow made the girl laugh. It was then that in his mind, Itachi upgraded her from hyper weirdo to hyper weirdo who has serious issues. Before he could say a word, Rae began to speak again. "I'm sorry about getting you annoyed...now you're confused. I'm so sorry."

"_Is this bitch physic?_" Itachi wondered as he dropped his hand to his side as he stared at the girl. Rae smiled weakly, "Your ring told me so it's alright."

Taking a moment, he looked down at his hand as saw the orange ring. Itachi looked up to see the girl laughing but she quickly stopped and said, "I'll explain after this. So, you want one or two boxes? Oh! You can have three boxes...or four...or fi-" but got interrupted by a hand to her face. "Please, stop." Itachi said in a low voice, "I just want one box."

"Okay! One box!" she cheered with a grin and led Itachi to the cash register.

--

There, Itachi saw the cashier and she seemed saner than Rae but he kept that observation to himself. Leaving his side, she put the box of nails onto the counter and let the other girl scan it. It wasn't long before the box had been paid for and Itachi was holding a small bag with the box of nails inside it.

"You mind telling me about my ring?" he asked, becoming interested in how she could tell how he felt just by the sight of his ring.

Rae nodded and put a finger up, beside her head which made her seem smart but if you actually knew her, it made her look more dangerous. "I just know by the color. You do know your wearing a mood ring, right?" she asked, trying to hold back another crazed giggle. No response from Itachi was just what she expected. "It's just a ring that tells your mood and the rumor is, is that it never fails." Rae explained, speaking in a whisper for some reason. He just nodded with the little thought of, "_I didn't know I had moods…_" going through his mind. After that, the ring turned blue but back to orange. "Why does it always turn orange?" Itachi asked with a little impatient rush.

"Orange means you're confused, that's all. Orange is confusion, pink is love, and red is anger and- "she began to count on her fingers, each color made her sway her hips to the left or right. It was then she got cut off, "How do you know this?" Itachi said to her with a raised eyebrow. Rae just let out a sugar high laugh, complete with a jiggle. "Because everyone knows what mood rings are and what the colors stand for. Here! I should write you a list!" she almost yelled as she ran to a shelve.

Taking a notepad and pen from her uniform apron, she began to write on one of the pages. "The only down side would be that everyone will know how your mood and some people don't really like that since they like privacy and all of that." Rae spoke to Itachi as she wrote, her back to him. He nodded and went beside her to get the piece of paper she ripped from her notepad. Looking down on it, he read…

Red - Mad

Pink - In Love

Black - Sad

Orange - Confused

Green - Envy

Blue - Happy

Yellow - Nervous

"So the color of the ring tells what mood I'm in?" he questioned, not sure if he should believe it or not. Rae just nodded and put her notepad and pen back into her uniform apron. Looking at the ring, he saw it was still orange. "Alright," Itachi nodded back, "Is it always correct?"

Rae just nodded again, "Yeah."

"_Feh, this is such bullshit._" Itachi thought to himself as he thanked Rae and left the store. Who would believe stories about how a ring can tell someone's mood? As he put the paper Rae had given him into the bag, he continued home to where he'd finally be able to put up that damned painting.

--

**Tee hee, we'll see what 'bullshit' this is in the next chapter. Like I promised, there's a list of the colors and the moods. Again, I don't own a mood ring so I made the colors and moods fit into the story. Hm, I think I'm starting to see how long this is turning to be. Sixth chapter and I'm on the third member but I have the most of it planned so getting it out is the thing. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Hugs to all!**


	7. Curiosity Gets You Interrogated

**Yay for lucky chapter number seven. To celebrate the number, I tried to make it another long chapter. My list of thankies grows, hm! Thanks to Xwing.bladeX, Yuroshima, and Panda-chan101. I also got my first two reviews. Thanks again to those were reviewed my last chapter. -sets out cookies to celebrate- Also, the same old...italics is thoughts and I don't own Naruto but it's still fun to write fanfics for it.**

**--**

Leaving the store, Itachi began to wonder about the ring and if what Rae told him was true. "_That's so fake…a ring telling how someone feels. I bet she puts more sugar than actual coffee in her cup or mug or whatever in the mornings…_" he thought to himself as he peeked at the ring. It was still an orange that represented his confusion. He did have to admit it was hitting all his moods on the head so far but Itachi wasn't ready to call it totally accurate. Staring down at it, he began to wonder, "_Maybe it can tell moods…_" but quickly dismissed the idea after seeing how foolish it was.

As he made his way back to where he and the other's were living, he past by a toy store. He was surprised to see that the store was empty since it was usually booming with business. Peeking into the window, he saw only a few people where their and that there was a poster on a part of the wall. Itachi couldn't tell what the poster was about because of his suck-ass eyesight so he went inside to have a look when curiosity got the best of him.

--

Entering the store, he saw how it was even more of a cemetery on the inside and somewhat literally because of all the Halloween toys and decorations. Each step that Itachi took brought him closer to the poster and closer to reading it. From where he was, he could simply tell it was a wanted poster. "_Is this why like no one is in here? Just because some random dude robbed them?_" he began to think as he read the poster. Before he could even get to the main parts of the poster, he heard someone scream, "YOU!"

Turning his head, he saw an employee holding a shaking finger at him. "You're the one that robbed us not too long ago!" she continued with an accusing voice, "You have the wrinkles a-" but Itachi cut her off. "THEY'RE NOT WRINKLES!"

Simply ignoring him, the woman went on, "And you're wearing the same make-up, too!" This is what sent him over the edge, as he wanted to kill her right then and there. Instead, he just screamed, "**I DON'T WEAR MAKE-UP AND I DON'T HAVE WRINKLES, FUCKING BITCH!!**"

It was defiantly enough to get her attention and everyone else's in the store as began to shiver. Seeing his enraged outburst was just one of many more, another employee called the police to come and arrest him. By now, the poor woman was shivering and in tears but Itachi didn't even bother to take it into account.

"**AND ANOTHER THING…WHY THE FUCK DO YOU WEAR YELLOW AND GREEN?! DO YOU REALIZE HOW BLINDING THAT SHIT IS?! THE ONLY GOD DAMN THING IT'S GOOD FOR IS NOT GETTING HIT BY A CAR IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT!!**" Itachi continued to rant even if it was now on random things that pissed him off but couldn't hold in anymore. He didn't even realize that the police were there since he was so into his ranting.

Being tackled to the floor, he felt his grip loosen on the bag that contained the box of nails and list of moods and colors as he went unconscious. The last thing he saw was the illuminating yellow and green that was the woman's work uniform.

--

Itachi opened his eyes when he felt his body on a seat of some type of vehicle. Jumping into panic mode, he looked around and widened his eyes when he noticed he couldn't move his hands. "Calm down, back there" someone in the front of the vehicle called to him with a laugh at the end. He didn't reply but just wondered what happened and where he was. "_The hell am I?_" he wondered as he looked around, still trying to pull his hands apart but discovered they were handcuffed.

It was then that it hit him, what happened before he blanked out and what was going on. At the toy store, someone called the cops on him and arrested him. Looking up at the ceiling of the car, he sighed, "_How could this happen?_"

Seeing that he calmed down, the officer in the passenger seat twisted around to face Itachi. "You have any idea what you're here for?" he asked but Itachi stood quiet. It made the officer shake his head, "You was looking at your own wanted poster. What you mean that you don't know?" This made him shrug, "I really have no idea why I'm here…didn't even get to read all of that Goddamn poster, either!"

With a huff, Itachi crossed his arms…or tried to, forgetting about the handcuffs. Seeing how his hands were huffed, it clicked into his mind that he didn't have the bag of nails and list with him. Going into panic mode again, he leaned forward, to the side, anything to try to help him look around since his arms were useless. Seeing what he was doing, the same policeman laughed. "I got your bag," he said as he held it up as proof, "Why are you getting so worked up over it? Got something special in it?"

"No, nothing special. Just something I needed…"

"Oh, like what? Make-up?"

Itachi's expression instantly darkened when he heard what the officer laughed out. That lady he was yelling at must have told him about that. "I don't wear make-up…" he said in a low voice, refusing to tell him have the last word in it.

"It's okay. When we get to the precinct, we'll get this settled out…then you could take your make-up and go home." He said, whispering the last part with a grin.

--

Entering the precinct, Itachi was still handcuffed and led to a room where he'd probably get asked questions. A seat was offered to him and he sat down with the bag from the hardware store thrown next to him. "Alright, let's start" the officer that was driving the vehicle said as he sat in front of Itachi. He had to think the Lord that he would get asked questions from him and not that other policeman who made him of him for supposedly wearing make-up. "_This doesn't seem to bad. Just explain myself and they'll let me out. Not like I did anything to get here in the first place. Wonder why they had a wanted poster of me any-_" he wondered when his thoughts were slashed by the officer's voice.

"Do you know why you're here?"

"No but if you take off these handcuffs, I'll try to remember for you."

He just stared at Itachi, being a little reluctant to take off his cuffs but eventually he did. Putting them on a table that was at the side of the room, he continued his the questions.

"Do you know why they had a wanted poster of you?

"Because they wanted to use it as decoration…?"

"No, you were wanted for robbery. Do you at least know that?"

"The fuck? Robbery?"

It was like his questions were answered with even more questions from Itachi. Taking a folder, he opened it and took out a piece of paper. He then began to explain what it was. "This is a report filed by the toy store regarding a robbery about a month ago. They sent in descriptions on the robber, which turns out to be you. So…now you do remember?"

"_I supposedly robbed them like a month ago?_" Itachi thought as he looked at the ceiling of the room. That's when it all came back to him.

--Start Flashback—

It had been late afternoon when Kakuzu dragged Itachi outside to get Hidan a birthday gift. "Come on, if we go now then we don't have to deal with as many annoying people!" Kazuzu assured him, tugging Itachi to walk faster. He didn't even know why he was with him when he was pretty sure he'd get a gift from the 99cent store or something. "What do you plan on getting Hidan anyway?" the missing leaf ninja asked with crossed arms as he came to a stop. Looking back at him, the other shrugged, "Something he likes…and something cheap"

That was just what he had expected but still found himself shaking his head. "Does he even celebrate his birthday?" Itachi wondered out loud but Kakuzu simple answered that if not, he'd save the gift until it was the next person's birthday so he wouldn't have to waste time and even more precious, money. "Let's go to this toy store and see if they have anything he'd like. They might have some type of Jashin game, you know." Kakuzu said, dragging Itachi with him.

--

As they entered, they wandered around first. They were passing through the board game shelves when something caught Kakuzu's eye…the game, Monopoly. "What game is this?" he asked as he brought it down from the shelf to look at it. It was then that Itachi wondered what type of corrupt childhood he had for him not to know the game of Monopoly but then he wasn't one to talk anyway. "It's just a board game," Itachi explained, "You get money, buy houses, make other people pay y-" but he got cut short by Kakuzu's hyper voice. "What?! There's money in these?!" he demanded, gripping the box in his hands furiously hard.

"Yeah bu-" he was going to talk about how it does come with money but now real, just fake money before his friend began to grab multiple boxes. Kakuzu tugged as many boxes as he could under his arms and tried to hold five boxes in one hand, which didn't really work out. "Here, take them! We're leaving!" he simply said as he made a dash out the store, leaving Itachi with Monopoly boxes around him.

Grabbing one box that would be a gift for Hidan, he ran after Kakuzu who was probably already outside. Itachi knew he'd never give up the Monopoly, birthday gift or not so he took one himself that would be given as one. Charging down the hall towards the door, he crashed into a glowing yellow and green object. After the collision, he found out it was a woman who was actually wearing the store's employee uniform. "Oh, I'm sorry, sir" she laughed nervously as she got up and then helped up Itachi. He didn't even say a word but ran out the store once he got back on her feet.

The woman stared on in shock about what just happened. "Wait! Come back!" she yelled before Itachi was outside with Kakuzu and they continued home.

--End Flashback—

"Damn," Itachi said as he brought down his head, "So that's why I'm here? They actually made a wanted poster and everything because I took one Monopoly game board?" By now, a hand was over his face with his mood ring a ruby red. The bright red caught the officer's attention. "Oh, a mood ring. This should make things simpler." He smiled, leaning back in his seat.

Rolling his eyes, the black-haired ninja sighed, "You don't honestly believe in mood rings, do you?" though he never answered. "Let's start with the questions again, now that you know what you're here for." The officer began.

"Why did you take the game board?"

"I needed it for...something." Itachi answered with his mood ring turning yellow. The color change made the other smile. "Oh, getting nervous, are we? Don't tell me you're lying, now."

"I'm not lying. I just hate being pressured. Just let me go. All I did was take a God damn board game!" he said with a little temper as his ring flashed red yet again.

The officer arose from his seat and went to put push a button on a small box and go to handcuff Itachi. "Alright, I'll take that as a confession. Let's go." He said with a tired voice, probably getting bored with it. Of course, he refused and pushed the officer away from him. "I'm not going anywhere except home!" Itachi yelled as he grabbed his bag and ran to the door but fell to the floor when the man dove for his leg.

The two were rolling on the floor, fighting each other until one was able to stand up. "Get, the, fuck, offa, me!" he threatened with a punch that got the man off Itachi. Rushing to his feet, he ran out into the hall and then outside. Lucky enough, no one stopped him and even if someone saw, all they really did see what a random person running down the hall with a few dirty marks on his face and things.

--

Finally returning home, it was already nighttime, which made Itachi wonder how long he had been out for. He didn't think about it long since he really just wanted to go to sleep. The day had been way more than he bargained for and all of that just to get nails to hang up a picture with.

As news spread about his return, they began to question where he went, what took so long, the usual. He just told them that he had gone out to get nails to hang up the painting but got carried away with some things.

Going into his room, Itachi didn't even bother to change or anything. He just threw the bag onto his desk and then himself onto his bed. As his eyes closed to sleep, the last thing he saw was his ring that was now blue. "_Such...bull…shit…_"

--

**Now, we're done toying with Itachi. So far, I've had the most fun with him and Kisame but we have a bunch more to mess around with! Who'll be the next victim, hm? You'll have to wait and see. I also might start on my other Naruto fanfiction (check my profile for more information) so I'll try to balance the two out evenly. Hugs to all!**


	8. A Blessing Called IHOP

**Here we go with chapter eight, hm! This one is shorter than the previous chapter so I'm sorry if I disappointed anyone. Naruto still doesn't belong to me but I enjoy poking fun at the characters.**

**To Panda-chan101...Thanks so much for reviewing again. I'm happy that you like the story and that you're following it even though it has it's up and down moments.**

--

The bright rays of sunlight that belonged to the late morning were finally able to wake up Itachi. Lifting his head from his pillow, he looked around in a half-awake daze. For some reason, he felt weird like something was out of place but when he stood up to stretch, he found out what it was. He was still in his clothing and even shoes from the day before. "Was I really that tired?" he whispered as he ran his hands down over his eyes. It was then he remembered about the painting, meeting Rae, the list of moods and colors, the toy store, being arrested and getting away. It all came to him and he just sighed. Thinking it would be smart to stay inside until the robbery issue died down, he changed into his stay-home-and-be-lazy clothes. With a final stretch and yawn, Itachi was out and going into the bathroom.

--

Stepping out into the hallway from the bathroom, the smell of a very delicious breakfast crashed into him. "Holy crap!" he gasped at the smell, "Did someone kidnap a chef?!" knowing very well that no one in the Akatsuki could cook a decent meal.

Without even another thought, he ran to the living room and stopped when the smell got stronger. Itachi could see everyone eating and into the kitchen where some more food was on a big plate, waiting to be taken. His sudden arrival made some of them jump but one greeted him. "Morning," Zetsu greeted, looking at the fellow Akatsuki, "We thought you'd never wake up...or was you just painting your nails again?" The entire organization poked fun at Itachi for how long it took him to paint his nails but then again, his were always the nicest, next to Konan's. Since she was a female, and they thought girls were born with that kick-ass nail painting gift, no one bothered to poke fun at her about it. "It's more complicated than you may think. Sometimes you have to file them and things. Then put a base coat, an-" he began to explain when everyone else laughed.

His hands turned into tight fists and the ring was red but to the point it looked like it would explode. "Forget it! You people never understand!" Itachi huffed, marching past them and into the kitchen. "And who made this food?" he asked, still in a bad mood but curious so it came out like an odd mix. Kakuzu was able to stop laughing and pointed to Pein, "He went out and brought back breakfast with him. It's I-HOP!" he said, singing out the last part.

"Aw, why didn't he go to the International House Of Pancakes?" he whined while Kakuzu stared. "Yeah..." he said slowly, "I...HOP..." It went quiet as Itachi began to think to himself. It was then that, that small part changed everything and he was back to his usual self...or whatever you would call usual with Itachi. "I...HOP? Alright!" he smiled and when it finally clicked. Itachi went to take a plate, a knife and a fork. As he did, he saw the ring was blue and, yet again, correct with telling his mood. Having this ring practically shouting how he felt to the world, Itachi shivered. He liked to keep things to himself and how he felt was defiantly one of them. It was a tough choice on what to do since he really liked it but then again he also liked to feel how he felt to himself. "_I'll have to stop wearing it..._" Taking off the ring, it went back to its lifeless gray color and Itachi put it in his pants pocket. When he was done eating, he'd have to get rid of it.

Continuing to take some pancakes and anything else that was left from the plate, he set it on his own plate. I-HOP was one of those most-loved places where the Akatsuki ate from...if they were welcomed or not. Putting his plate on the counter, Itachi filled a glass of orange juice. Putting away the Tropicana orange juice container, he pushed the door to the refrigerator closed with his foot. Getting his glass and plate, he went back into the living room to eat with the others.

--

As he entered, he saw some of them were almost done and other's were completely finished but stood to chat. Taking a seat next to Tobi, Itachi sat down and began to eat. He didn't talk but listened to the conversation everyone else was having. Curiously, he looked around to see what the other's had eaten but when he got to Tobi's plate, he cringed his nose. His plate had a pond of syrup on it with a piece of a sausage carelessly floating around in it. "...Tobi?" he questioned and got a cheery, "Yes, Itachi?" in return. It was now so obvious to him that Tobi was in his own world of bliss so he just shook head, "Never mind..."

"Care to tell us where you went yesterday? When you came back, you was all tore up and went right to your room." Pein said as he pointed a pancake-stabbed fork to Itachi. He didn't answer but just ate, trying to buy time to think about what to say. "_Dammit. I can't tell them about the mood ring or anything like that._" he thought as he finally swallowed a piece of pancake. "I went to go and buy some nails to hang up a painting with. Guess I lost track of time and get really tired." Itachi explained, hoping it would be good enough.

That was when Sasori's voice came into the conversation. "You went to buy nails?" he asked, "What happened to the nails I let you borrow?"

"They got messed up since I didn't hit them properly." he said, a little embarrassed, "But I'll give you that new box when I'm finished. I just need one nail from it."

That was when the conversation came to an end and everyone continued to eat or just left the room. When it was only Itachi left, he finished his breakfast and put his plate and everything else in the sink. Whoever's turn it was to wash the dishes would come and do it.

Still standing in the kitchen, he wondered what he should do with the ring since he didn't want it anymore. "_I should hide it so I won't wear it and no one finds it_" was a thought that came to Itachi's mind as he hand his hand over the pocket with the mood ring inside of. "_Shit...what would be a good place to hide it though?_"

--

Itachi had wandered around as he looked for a good place to hide the ring but he wasn't sure what he was looking for. It had to be a place where he would hide it so that no one would find it and he'd be free of its mood-shouting colors. He was in Zetsu's garden, looking around at all the plants that were there. "_Maybe I can hide it here under the clutter_." he thought to himself as he looked for a good place to hide it. Finding nothing, he began to have seconds thoughts about hiding it there. The situation quickly turned desperate as he heard someone near by.

"Crap! What am I going to do?!" he whispered, knowing he'd never be caught dead in Zetsu's garden. Taking a leap of faith, he ran to a flowerpot and shifted the soil so there was a small hole. Dropping in the ring, he covered it up with the soil. "_Finally_." Itachi smirked as he went to leave which meant sneaking past Zetsu who was checking up on his plants.

--

Going back to his room, Itachi flopped down on his bed and sighed. It felt like 20 pounds of weight and a food-obsessed child had been lifted from his shoulders. Looking over at his desk, he saw the bag from the hardware store. With a deep breath, he muttered, "Let's do this shit." and went towards it. Taking the box out and tosses the bag, still with the list in it, back onto the desk, he went to get the hammer.

Standing in front of the wall, he put the nail to it and hit it with the hammer. The result...the same as the others, it was hit from an odd angle so the head of the nail bent to the side. Fourteen nails, minutes of colorful language and one swollen finger later, Itachi was finally done and the painting was now hanging on his wall. With his hands on his hips, he smiled, seeing how he got two things accomplished in one day. Now, he had a new mission to try and do…get an icepack for his swollen finger. Gathering the hammer and box of nails, he left to return to them to Sasori and then to get the kitchen for ice.

--

**That little part about the International House Of Pancakes really happened to me so I felt like giving him part of my stupidity. Anyway, we're officially finished toying with Itachi. Hm, it's sad how I enjoy torturing them but who doesn't? You just have to love them, hm! If you think the story is over...WRONG AND GO EAT YOUR CHILLI! I'll admit that this isn't the end. Really, we're almost halfway done. Wait until next chapter to see who's turn it is to go through hell. Hugs to all! **


	9. Rukia's Gift

**Hey, everyone. Kris here with chapter nine of CCM. Not much to put here so just enjoy, hm. I also don't own Naruto...or a mood ring.**

**Thankies To: FooFooCudlyPoops and big thankies to Addi-Cheeze and Bobby-Toast! **

**--**

The hammer and nails had been returned to Sasori and Itachi was now in the kitchen. He opened the freezer and began to take out the tray of ice. Setting it on the counter, he closed the freezer and went to get a sheet of Bounty. As he did this, he heard someone come into the kitchen but he didn't bother to see who it was. Wrapping two ice cubes in the Bounty, Itachi pressed it against his swollen finger and let out a sigh.

"What the hell happened to you?" the person asked with a small snicker at the end.

Hearing the voice, he looked and saw Zetsu who was in the kitchen with him. "Nothing. Just hit my finger with a hammer." he said and then quickly rushed out, not liking to admit such a thing.

As Itachi dashed out the room, he just stared and then let it go. Everyone in the Akatsuki was weird in his or her own way and that was that. Turning towards the sink, Zetsu lifted a watering pot and filled it with water. Twisting the 'cold' knob of the sink off, he left the kitchen and back to his garden.

--

The moment he went back into his garden, he smiled, happy to see his plants in top health. "Hello!" Zetsu greeted the plants as he began to water them. Coming to one, he stopped and put down the pot to check the flowers on it. There was one that he was especially interested in: a small red bud. Pouring some water into the soil, he cooed, "Good luck, little one." and continued.

Once again, he stopped at another plant and studied it. "_It's going to need a bigger pot_." he concluded and set the watering pot next to it. Walking away from it, Zetsu went and got another pot that was bigger than the one the plant was currently in. Getting back to it, he set it on the floor. "It's okay. You'll like your new pot. The one you're in now might be a bit snug for you." he explained to the plant and went to get some supplies.

Returning with a mini shovel, he began to take some of the soil and put it in the pot. He started around the edges until there was so more soil left. Digging his hands into the gaps, he grabbed the root-entangled soil and lifted it up. Quickly, Zetsu turned and put it into the bigger pot. Finishing with a sigh, he smiled at his beloved plant.

Fetching the watering pot, he tilted it down so water fell onto the soil like rain. As he did this, he quietly hummed but then stopped when he saw something shining in the soil. It was small, very shiny and it looked wet from being watered on.

"_What's this?_" he questioned himself in his mind as he put the pot aside and ran a finger over the shiny object in the soil. It felt cold and wet but what got him curious the most was the metallic feel to the unknown object. Carefully brushing soil that was around it away, Zetsu discovered it was slightly bigger than he thought and most of it was buried in the soil. Slowly, he brushed the soil away from the metal item and then took it from the dirt to have a better look at it. Seconds later, a loud cheer could be heard from miles away. "**RUKIA HAD A BABY!!!!!!!!!!!**"

--

Meanwhile, in the common room, everyone else heard Zetsu's cheer. "I would have never guessed..." Hidan sighed and continued to read a magazine.

--

Back in Zetsu's garden, he eventually and sadly learned what he found was actually a ring. He studied it some more, being very curious about where it came from. Rings don't grow in the soil of your plants, you know. All he could do now was wash it and decide what to do with it. Putting it to the side, he went to water the rest of the plants.

When he was finished, he picked up the ring and stared at it. Still not sure where it came from, he took what water was left in the watering pot and poured it on the ring. Slowly, the dirt on it began to slide off it and it became clean. _What to do with this..._ He wondered as he rolled the ring around in his hand. It was then that a curious thought came to his mind and he slid the ring onto one of his fingers on his darker side. Brightening from it's gray; it turned orange and then rolled into a blue color. A smile spread on Zetsu's face, _It fits!_

Maybe the ring was some type of gift from his plants and it was meant for him to have or something. That's what Zetsu thought at he stared at the now orange ring. "Why does it keep changing colors?" he growled, becoming annoyed which only made it turn reddish-orange. Sighing, he gave up on the topic and took his eyes from the ring to his garden. Moving his hand down to his side, he continued to work on his garden.

Finally, when he was finished, he wiped his forehead or what he could with the flytrap in the way. Taking a peek at the ring that was still on his finger, which was a beautiful blue. It went well with his black hand, that's for sure but it wasn't very visible if you didn't know what you was looking at. That didn't matter though since Zetsu knew it was there and that's all that mattered.

--

By now, days have gone by and Zetsu's life went on free of any unusual or traumatizing events like what Itachi and Kisame went through. Really...no one even noticed the ring to begin with. Who looked at his hands, anyway? In the beginning, he noticed Itachi was behaving weird but then it could have been the eye drops or from walking into so many walls and doors. It wasn't until the fourth day that it all came crashing down on him.

"OH, MY GOD! MY FINGER! I'M DYING!" he screamed.

Rushing into the common room, Zetsu found the others who stared at him in return. "What's wrong with you?" Kisame asked curiously but rudely at the same time. Not even paying mind to the rudeness, he showed them his finger that once carried the mood ring, which was now in his room. "I'm shriveling up and it's the weather's fault! Damn you, clouds! Stop fucking hiding the sun from me!" he yelled. Everyone took a bored look at it before gasping at the sight. On his black hand was a pale ring around one of the fingers. The skin of it looked squishy and it was starting to peel.

"Ew, that's fucking gross!" Kakuzu frowned and turned his head as if not wanting to see anymore than he already did. Tobi was one of the few that actually leaned in closer to look at it. Tilting back his head, Tobi looked up at Zetsu, "What happened?" he asked with his innocent curiosity.

It took a moment to get the words as Zetsu looked at the pale ring around his black hand. _How did this happen? Could it have been from the ring?_ He sadly thought to himself. Zetsu loved that ring but if this is what it did to him, he might have to stop wearing it. "I'm not sure," he said as he turned his eyes to the others, "I found a ring and began to wear it a lot. I hope it's not some type of weird reaction."

After saying this, the other's stared as they stood quiet. This, in return, made Zetsu silent and wonder if he did good about being honest with the finding and wearing of that color changing ring. Before anyone could laugh or poke fun at Zetsu, Itachi's voice was heard. "You...you found a ring?!" Itachi asked with his voice shaky. Nodding, he replied, "Yes, why?" but no response came.

"Then stop wearing the ring and see what happens." Sasori explained as he pointed to the abnormally pale finger, "If it stays like that, you should see a doctor. If you stop wearing it, then your finger should get back to normal though. I don't think you should peel it since you'll probably take too much. Just let it peel on it's own for now."

Everyone gasped at Sasori's words as if they'd never expect that from him. "Ooooh, Danna's been reading smart books!" Deidara poked at his shoulder. Sighing, he said back, "They aren't smart books, they're just...books. Unlike you, I read, all right. I might work on puppets but I also work on human bodies."

Zetsu nodded as he took it all in. _Maybe that's the issue. Hopefully it isn't. _Sighing, he reached a decision, "Alright. I won't wear it then. I'll probably give it to one of my plants. If I can't have it, then they can." With that simple choice, he left the room to his garden.

--

Going back into his garden, he found the plant where he discovered the ring. Standing near the plant, he began to speak to it. "Rukia, I'm sorry about taking your ring. If what happened to my finger is your way of revenge, then I understand. Here. You can have it back." Zetsu said with a frown, not wanting to give it up. Taking a moment to sigh, he put the ring back under the soil like he first found it.

"There. It's yours again." he whispered to Rukia and took a step back to admire the vibrant green plant. With a final smile, he left the garden.

--

**Next chapter, Zetsu'll take one more hit and then he's done. I'm not too happy with just having his finger get icky like it's not enough. I'll try to update as fast as I can but I can't promise anything. This entire week is supposed to be chaos.**


	10. Taking It For The Team & Who's Next?

**Finally, we're in the double digits for CCM. Hm, I'm really sorry about the wait for this chapter. Just as I expected, the week was insane. Yesterday, I went downtown with my best friend for anime, manga, ramen and pocky. My feet were killing me but it was way worth it, hm. -Munches out on strawberry pocky-**

**Sad News: I still don't own Naruto. **

**Good News: I still love writing fanfics for it.**

**Thankies To: Knightchaser and Panda-chan101. **

**Big Thankies To: BloodRenevant and slavetothekeyboard.**

**Hm, enjoy the chapter. -Sets out pocky for readers-**

--

For the second time since the ring was found, days went by without anything crazy happening. Zetsu's finger even got better and was back to the usual black color. Maybe it was a good thing that he left the ring with his plant, Rukia. No one had to suffer its wrath and if anything, Rukia was just a plant, which made it easy for it to take the hit for the group. Of course, that was something Zetsu would never dream of. This also set Tobi, Kisame and Itachi on edge since they were the victims of the ring though they never told anyone.

Everyone was doing their own thing, which meant Zetsu was in at his garden with his lovely plants. Again, he was with Rukia but just to check her leaves and things. It wasn't until he discovered something that made him scream like he did before but this time...it was in depression.

"**NOOO! RUKIA'S DEAD!**"

The scream made everyone tremble as Zetsu began to franticly run around the garden. The plant was dead and there was nothing to do but to him, it was like he lost a great friend or maybe even more. _How could this happen?! She was perfectly healthy before!_ He sighed as he shook his sadness. It was really a mystery that needed to be solved and one that would be solved now. Leaving everything the way it was, he went to get the others.

--

Rounding up everyone else in the Akatsuki, Zetsu brought him or her to his garden to see the dead Rukia. "So...what am I looking at here?" Hidan asked, already bored when he was only there for a minute. A quiet sniffle could be heard from Zetsu before he answered, "It's Rukia...she's dead."

No one in the group could understand what he was going through besides Kisame who watched his beloved girlfriend...fish friend get burned alive. "No way!" he said with a step closer to the drooping plant, "How could she die? You took such good care of her...you take such good care of all your plants." The question was a very good one though one Zetsu couldn't answer. If anything, it was the same question he had himself. Before, Rukia was perfectly healthy and everything. What could happen to make such a drastic change?

"I don't know." Zetsu finally said back when he noticed the others waited for his reply, "I just...I don't know."

That was all he said before he left the garden and back to his room to think it through.

--

One thing he really didn't want to do was take Rukia from her pot and throw her dead...body away. It felt like a hard blow to his heart as Zetsu was sprawled out on his bed, looking at the ceiling. Sure, he had other plants but this was one different. Not only was it one that he really liked from the others but...it was one that died so randomly. If there was a problem, Zetsu would have defiantly known but he detected no problems. That's what kept nagging at him, letting a perfectly healthy plant die for some random reason.

_I just don't get it_..._how could Rukia be dead? She was fine when I last checked. Maybe I didn't check enough...this is probably all my fault. Should have paid more attention...then maybe she would still be all right. Ugh, I still have to go and throw her away. I really don't want to. Maybe I can get Tobi to do it or something. I'd probably break down like a bitch._

As Zetsu stared at his ceiling, he was having a conversation in his mind about Rukia, if there was any way to have saved her and saying his final good-byes to her. He really didn't want to but he knew he had to. It was like one of those things where you just had to go and bite the bullet.

_I won't let this happen again_. He promised himself as he left his room back to the garden.

--

Now back in the garden, Zetsu saw the others had left but it wasn't much of a surprise.. He didn't really expect them to stay anyway. They was either watching television, being anti-social, reading, blowing up stuff, building stuff, running around like an idiot, painting their nails, counting money or praying.

He really didn't mind their absence anyway since this was something he just wanted to be alone with. Sadly, he looked down at the wilting plant that was once perky and glowing with bright green color and sighed. "I'm sorry." Zetsu muttered as he began to take the soil from the pot so that he could take Rukia out and figure out what to do with her...body?

As Zetsu brought a bag next to the pot that held the dead plant, he could just hear the depressing music in his head. He just shook his head and continued to remove the dirt around Rukia so he could pick her up and put her in the bag. It was like a deja vu to him since not too long ago, he put a very healthy Rukia in the pot. Now, he's taking her out of it but instead, for a not-good reason.

Picking up the plant made some of the soil shift and break above Zetsu's hands. Leaning to the side to place it in the bag, more dirt fell to the floor. He did nothing about it though but decided to clean it up when he was finished. As more began to pour into the floor, the ring also was revealed from it and onto the floor with a metallic clink. Putting Rukia into the bag, Zetsu tied it closed and went to get a broom and scooper to clean up the mess.

When he returned, he began to clean up the floor. Pushing the dirt into one big pile, Zetsu saw the ring and stared at it. He had forgotten almost everything that had happened with it. _The ring I found. _The Akatsuki member stared at it with mixed emotions. It was the very ring that he found in Rukia's soil, had worn and then returned to her soil after a weird incident with his finger. A few minutes past by until the stare turned into a glare.

_It was this damned ring! Rukia was fine until it got into her soil. It must have gotten her sick or something...but then I would have known! No! It's all the rings fault! _

In a burst of anger, Zetsu dove for the ring and looked at the dreary gray color. A mad snort came from him as he threw the ring out with blind rage. Watching it sail out into the sky, he soon lost track of it. _Good fucking riddance! _He smirked when he couldn't see its gleam any longer. Turning back to the bag, he picked it up and slowly carried it to throw away. The walk was one that made him feel strange like he wanted to walk after to get the depressing moment over. He also wanted to walk slowly, to cherish what he could with one of his most beloved plants. After what seemed like forever in a few minutes, the bag was thrown away and Zetsu once again sighed.

His little depression moment was ripped in half when he felt a poke to his shoulder. Not saying anything, Zetus turned his head to see Deidara leaning towards him. "Are you okay?" he asked but for some reason had to get one more poke in. _Am I okay?_ Zetsu sighed and said that he was.

"Great! Come outside with me, hmph!"

"What? Why?"

"'Cause everyone is hungry and they want me to go out and get something to eat."

Zetsu stood silent until he noticed he was hungry but then refused. "It's alright. You go on." he said though he wasn't much of a fan of his mode of transportation anyway. With a nod, the other left.

--

Being outside, Deidara could see that it was almost dinner time just by how the sky looked. Creating a bird, he crawled onto it and sat at it's neck. After that, he didn't do anything but wondered what to get. Everyone had given him money to buy food but never said what to get. A few minutes eventually turned into twenty minutes and he was still trying to thinking. Who knew it could be so hard to push explosions and sculpting out of your mind for a few minutes?

"Oh, well...we'll see when we get there." he finally said to himself and the clay bird. Directing it to launch itself in the sky, Deidara stopped midway when he saw something shining in the grass. It looked like the hunt for food would be put on hold a bit longer.

Moving the bird to the shiny object, he ordered the bird to stop and then patted it's head. "Wait here, Hoshi." he told the bird before getting off. Walking to it, he began to see what it was until he saw it was a coin through his camera. "Yay! I found money!" he cheered as he went to pick it up.

--

As that happened, back where the others were, Kakuzu felt a tear run down his eye and he sniffled. Hidan stared as he wipped the tear and asked, "What the fuck? Are you crying?" with shock. Kakuzu shook his head and then shrugged. "No...probably allergies." he replied after another sniffle.

--

**Hm, I couldn't help myself with the ending! I just had to put it and get a poke at Kakuzu! I also have a little question with Deidara and how he talks. In Shippuden, he either says, "Hmph" or, "Hm" and I admit I'm not the best person to pick since it'll be bias. How I talk, type, think, etc. should say it all if you don't know why, hm. Please, when or if you review, include what you want me to go with. Hm, if I get nothing, I think it'll be pretty obvious which I will go with.**


	11. This Is How You Get Free Taco Bell

**Hm, as I promised, here is chapter eleven. For this chapter, we move onto a new person to torture even though I think everyone already knows who it is. Also, I've decided to have Deidara say, "Hmph" because, "Hm" is just my word. -gets defensive over a word- Anyway! Hope you guys enjoy, hm.**

**I own nothing of Naruto but it would be awesome if I did.**

**Thankies to Panda-chan101**

**--**

Taking the coin, Deidara held it up to look at it some more. It was nothing more than a shiny quarter. _Someone probably dropped it here, hmph. Oh, well._ He smiled, putting it into his pocket. Maybe he'd go and he could get some clay afterwards if there was time.

Returning back to his clay bird, Hoshi, he climbed back onto it and sat at its neck. "Alright, let's get going. Let's check out that group of stores where Kakuzu took us for pick-pocketing last weekend." he said to the figure and ordered it into the sky. As Hoshi began to gain altitude, Deidara studied the quarter. _Awesome. 2007. No wonder it's so shiny, hmph._ He grinned at it as it twinkled every time he turned it between his fingers. Dropping the coin onto his palm, he looked ahead and pointed to where he wanted Hoshi to go.

Slowly, the bird began to flip its wings some more and began to move. Looking back down at the coin, he stared to see a tongue wrapped around it. "Wait, no!" he gasped as the mouth on his palm had its tongue wrapped around the coin. Before Deidara could say anything else, the tongue escaped into the mouth with the coin. Turning his hand so his palm was facing down, he began to hit his hand. "Spit it out right now!" he said with his voice raised but nothing happened. With another smack, little choking noises could be heard from the mini mouth.

Leaning over to look into the mouth, he saw it was actually choking on the quarter somehow. _Shit!_ He panicked after seeing the small mouth choking._ What do I do, hmph?! I should have worn those gloves Tobi got me for Christmas. Everything is orange with that damn kid, hmph._ Deidara told himself in his mind as he continued to hear the gasping noises from his hand. "Come on." he encouraged as he continued to hit the back of his choking hand.

Something like this had happened before and now he was trying to remember how it got solved then. Before, Deidara asked Hidan about his Jashin rosary and gave him a spare one to look at while he went on and on about his religion. It was then that the mouth on one of his hands tried to eat the rosary. It got settled fairly quickly though since Hidan went into a rampage, meaning loads of cursing and wrestling to rescue the rosary from the palm mouth. The only issue now was that it was different; the tiny mouth was actually choking on it.

"Cough it up, hmph!" Deidara continued to encourage with one more slap. That seemed to do it when he heard one final gasp and then heavy breathing. Leaning forward to take a final look, he saw the mouth was open with the tongue hanging out but no quarter. Turning his head down, it came to him that it must have fallen onto the grass. Getting Hoshi to land back on the ground, he grumbled to himself, "Dammit! Get back here right now, quarter. You're going to get me some clay, hmph!"

When Hoshi got back to the ground, Deidara jumped back off and went to find the quarter. "Here it is, hmph," he declared out loud as he bent down to get it. The coin was covered in dirt and saliva, which gave him second thoughts on even picking it up. Making a face, he turned to leave the coin in the grass and went back to the clay bird.

Just a few steps later, Deidara stopped when he felt his foot land on something that didn't feel like a rock or grass or...anything. "EWWW!" he yelped, "I STEPPED IN DOG SHIT!!" and jumped back. Checking the bottom of his shoe, there was nothing there. It made him sigh at his luck but then curious as to what he stepped on. Looking forward, he saw a gray ring caught in the little blades of grass.

A few more seconds went by as he went to grab it from the grass. _Hey! This kicks a quarter's ass any day, hmph. _Rolling the ring around in his fingers, he was careful to keep it from the mouth on his palm. Looking up at the sky, it was getting later and later. "Well. Better go and get dinner, hmph." Deidara shrugged to himself as he took the ring over with him to Hoshi.

Climbing back up to his usual position, he showed the giant bird the ring that he found. Hoshi just looked down at it and Deidara laughed. "It's a ring," he explained, "Like the Akatsuki one I have, hmph." The bird just looked away as if understanding what it had been told. Putting the ring into his pocket, he patted its head, "Okay. Now we can go and get something to eat." and the bird took off into the sky.

--

Hoshi flew at a slow pace to give Deidara a chance to look around for a place to get dinner from. "How does Applebee's sound? I think they have that carry out thing, hmph." he said to the bird though it wouldn't be eating the food anyway.

The flying continued for a while until he decided to keep looking. Leaving the Applebee's, they went to find any fast food restaurants. It was sort of hard to find a place since all Deidara could think of what the ring he found. It was like that super size container of clay Sasori gave him for his birthday. He didn't leave that thing alone for a week.

As the clay figure flew to another patch of fast food restaurants, Deidara studied the ring he had found. It was a simple gray ring that bored him. _Man. Even my Akatsuki ring looks better, hmph. _He frowned slightly when he saw the ring he found wasn't even a nice one. _Does the shit even fit?_ He randomly wondered as he put it on one of his fingers. The mouth on the hand opened and flung out its tongue at the sudden weight of the ring.

Letting the ring go, the gray color darkened into black. "It fits, hmph!" Deidara gasped and then smiled. The black color wasn't so bad; it kind of gave it a mysterious look. Once the smile formed on his face, the color transformed into a blue. The smile grew even bigger at the change. Leaning forward so his head was beside the bird's, he said, "Hey, Hoshi, the ring I found changes color, hmph!" It said nothing in return but somewhere in Deidara's insane mind, it did and he laughed. "That's amazing. I wonder if it change any oth-holy shit! It turned orange!" he gasped and it turned back to blue as he happily thought to himself. _Maybe it's not so bad after all..._

Remembering what he was outside for, Deidara tore his eyes from the ring to look at the fast food restaurants below him and his clay creation. "A Taco Bell, hmph!" he pointed, "Let's go there." Without a word, Hoshi leaned to the side and swiftly turned to the Taco Bell. It was good that not many people were outside since it would have been complicated to land. But then again, if a huge clay bird with someone sitting at it's neck landed on the ground from the sky, who would stop to ask questions?

As Hoshi landed, Deidara pushed himself off and onto the ground. Standing up straight, he looked at the bird and smiled. Running a hand down the clay feathers, he said, "Just wait here for me...and don't go chasing bicycles like last time." The beady eyes of the bird turned down to it's creator and nodded as if it actually understood what it had been told. With a smile, he turned away from it and went into the Taco Bell.

--

The Taco Bell wasn't very crowded which was good. Picking a line, Deidara looked up at the menu boards that were on the wall. As he did this, he took a step forward when someone left with their food. It was finally his turn when he made his order. When he was done ordering, he figured to make small talk with the cashier as he tapped his fingers on the counter.

"Alright. Your order should be here soon." the cashier said politely while the workers in the back were making the food. Deidara nodded, "Thanks, hmph." but then looked at the person in the line beside him. A bag of food was given to him that just smelled wonderful and it even made his stomach growl. "Green with envy, I see." the cashier said and got a startled look from Deidara.

He just laughed and pointed to the ring he had on. "Green with envy." he repeated and Deidara looked down to see the ring had found earlier was green. Looking back up at the worker, he lied, "I'm not envious of anyone or anything. I have everything I could ever want, hmph." but the other smiled back. "Really?" he asked.

"I have a nice home, buckets of clay, good friends and a great Danna!" Deidara declared loudly as everyone stared on. Someone even began to crack up in the background but he ignored them.

As two bags of food were placed on the counter, the cashier grinned. "Aw, that's wonderful. I hope you two stay together forever. Here's your food, Ma'am." he said. Everything was fine until Deidara heard the last word. "What'd you say, hmph?" he asked with his voice in a whisper. The worker shivered at the sudden change in his customer's mood and replied, "I said that I wish you good luck with your Danna and that your food is here."

"Not...that. What...did you CALL ME?!?!" he asked with a burst of rage at the end. Not only was everyone else staring but they were also shaking in their spots. "I-I called you 'Ma'am'..." he said back with a terrified stutter.

"**I'M A MAN YOU FUCKING SHITHEAD!!!**" Deidara screamed as he pounded his fists onto the white counter. By now, the mood ring he had on was as red as the rage Deidara wore on his face. No one said anything but just stared. The cashier looked like he would pass out from fear at any moment. "Oh, I'm sorry! It's just you-the hair-I..." he stuttered, not even sure of what to say but Deidara continued anyway. "Whatever. Sasori-danna and Pein told me not to blow anyone up unless I really have to and I don't think this one cuts the cake for it." he said darkly as he took the bags and began to leave.

"Wait! Aren't you going to pay?" the worker yelled after him. Deidara was already at the door when he stopped at what he was asked. Putting one of the bags under his arm, he glared at the worker. "No, but you can have this." he said back as he flipped him the bird. Glancing away from him, Deidara continued out the door.

--

Returning to his clay bird, he paused to sigh. Lowering its head, Hoshi somehow had a concerned expression on its face. "That bastard thought I was a woman, hmph." he huffed as he jumped onto it's back. "I mean, do I fuckin' look like a girl, hmph?!" Deidara asked, still furious about the incident as he sat the bird's neck with a hold on each bag of food. With a sigh to calm down, he just said, "Let's just go home." and the clay animal was back in the sky.

The fly back went smoothly and Deidara had to fight to keep himself from eating his share of the food during the ride. Good thing that the bird flew faster than before to get back home so it didn't take long.

Settled back on the ground, he got off the birds back with the two bags of food in his hands. Putting them down beside him, he did some hand signs, which made Hoshi smaller than it was a few seconds go. "We're home." Deidara smiled to the bird that flew onto his shoulder as he entered.

--

"I...smell fooooood!" Kisame announced in the living/common room where everyone else was. Right on cue, Deidara came and showed the two bags of food to the others, "Food time, hmph." Now that dinner had officially been declared, he went into the kitchen to unload the bag of its contents.

Deidara put everyone's food on the counter and took his. As the mini clay bird jump from his shoulder and fly out the room, he got something to drink and went into the living room to eat. "It's in the kitchen." he said as he took a seat on the sofa and began to eat.

Some people left to go to the kitchen but Kakuzu stared on, his eyes narrow with suspicion. When the staring became annoying, Deidara snapped, "Can't a person eat, hmph?" Ignoring what he had been told, Kakuzu took a seat next to him. "How much did everything come out to?" he asked. "Nothing...it was free, hmph." Deidara calmly said, not bothering to get into how it came to be free.

The response seemed to have been the answer to the question of life as Kakuzu gasped. "**FREE?**" he screamed in a mix of shock and pure joy. It began to even scared Deidara to now see his fellow Akatsuki trembling in his seat. Moving over on the sofa, he continued to eat.

--

**Tee hee, hm. I had fun writing this chapter for CCM. Hm, isn't it odd how fun it is to torute your favorite Akatsuki members? -Looks at Itachi, Sasori, Kisame, Deidara and Hidan while grinning.- I have no idea what I was thinking about when I typed but the ending, hm. The image of a mini Kazuzu trembling because of a free meal makes me laugh for some reason. Hugs to all!**


	12. Of Cats & Yard Sales

**Nyahh. I'm so sorry about this chapter being so late, hm. Again, Hell in a handbasket! I feel like I let you guys down. I tried to make this chapter better than I had originally planned. Yeah...I actually have like an outline and plans for this story. I'm such a nerd, hmmm! Hm, Naruto still doesn't belong to me...but I do have this killer backache. **

**Thankies to Panda-chan101!**

--

Everyone else came back into the living room with his or her food and drinks. As they all entered, their eyes ran to Kakuzu who was still trembling where he sat. "Oh, boy," Konan shook her head as she went to sit, "Don't tell me he found a dime under one of the cushions like last time." Deidara shook his head as he still ate but before he could speak, Kakuzu quickly turned to Konan. "He said that he got all this food for free!" he said with even his voice trembling.

It made everyone gasp and look at Deidara. Something like this was a shock to them. So much food and for free? Pein cleared his throat before speaking. "Really? Mind to tell me how?" he asked with a few good ideas on how someone like him could get a free meal. The room went quiet besides the sounds of people eating.

Taking his time with the food, Deidara shrugged. "Just...some stuff happened, hmph." he replied and went back to eating. He really didn't want to talk about the entire incident and tried to avoid it as best as possible. Hearing what he said, the others talked amongst themselves. When you get told, "some stuff happened" from a person like Deidara, it could mean a number of things and something regarding explosions was always a big one.

Pein muttered to himself and shook his head, "You better not have killed anyone or destroyed something. All I sent you out for was to get food. If I wanted destruction, I would have taken everyone to throw garden gnomes at cars!" but Tobi broke in. "Um...couldn't you check the news? Last time Deidara exploded something, it made breaking news." he suggested and everyone nodded.

"Hey!" Deidara yelled with a point to Tobi, "I only did it because that bitch told me I had a stupid hairstyle, hmph!!" The others stared on, remembering that incident until Pein said something. "Tobi has a point and Deidara...get over it!" he said as if trying to break up the argument and turned on the television. Minutes of channel surfing, they found nothing. Deidara started, "See? Nothing happened so let's just enjoy the food, hmph." and went on eating.

Towards the end of dinner, Zetsu asked if they could have something like a yard sale. The reason was that some books recently attacked him after he opened one of the many closets. It seemed like a good idea, too. You could get rid of items and, which was brought up quickly by Kakuzu, make some money from it. The group decided that after eating, everyone would go and round up un-wanted items that could be sold.

--

Now that everyone was finished eating, they all went to their own rooms to see what could be sold. Deidara was in his own room sculpting a wad of clay. On the floor of his room, he sat cross-legged with his two rings beside him. He would randomly take them off to keep them for getting dirty and eliminating the risk of messing up one of his sculptures somehow.

As usual, it didn't take him long on what to make since he got right to work. After minutes of working, a miniature kitten was unveiled and already it began to roam the room. Exploding the sculptures may be fun to Deidara but he also just liked to just watch his little creations wander around almost like pets before doing it.

The sculpture already made it to his bed as it jumped on and walked around in circles on the blanket. Coming to its side, the clay figure leaped onto his desk and continued to curiously investigate the room. Hearing someone yell his name, Deidara jumped since he was so wrapped up in watching his new creation. "Deidara, get over here! Itachi just got attacked by a bag of winter clothing! I told 'im not to go in that damned closet, too..." he heard someone call.

With a groan, he stood up and made his way to the door. One last look at the cat sculpture that was still on his desk gave him a worried look. He had never left one of his clay models alone before but then what harm could it do? A small shrug was all Deidara let out and went to help the others.

As the door closed, the cat looked at it and slowly made it's way to the door. Pawing at it, it turned its face down to the floor. Somehow, it seemed sad that it's creator left but then that did leave even more of the room open for searching. Turning away from it, the small figure went to the two rings that were on the floor. A blank stare was put upon them from the figurine and eventually a paw appeared over it and began tapping it.

It wasn't long before the small kitten was playing ring hockey across the floor. Sure, it bumped into the walls a few times but that didn't stop the fun of playing hockey with a shiny gray ring.

--

Deidara went into the hallway where the shouting was from and saw Itachi holding an ice pack. "Damn winter clothing," he mumbled in a low voice as he pressed it his head. Watching the all-powerful Itachi Uchiha reduced to holding an ice pack to his head from an encounter with a bag of winter clothing was very priceless to him. Trying not to laugh, Deidara turned away from him and looked at the closet. "Hey! Someone needs to go through this bag and see if any of the stuff in it is actually good." Pein instructed as he tossed the bag away from him for someone to take. Grabbing the bag, Sasori offered to go through it, which made sense since he seemed to be one of the saner, decision-making people in the Akatsuki. Dragging the bag away, Deidara noticed how the bag was just as big as the redheaded puppet. Sometimes he had to laugh at his Danna's size and even more at how it's didn't even reflect his age.

"How is everyone doing with getting their stuff together?" Itachi asked as he switched hands to hold the ice pack in place. The few people that were there gave their responses but Deidara stood silent. He had completely forgotten about the whole idea to go through your things to see what you wanted to be sold. After a blink, he noticed everyone was looking at him for an answer. "Um...I'm getting there, hmph." he said slowly but everyone went on doing their own things. Leaving the hall, Deidara rushed into his room to go through his things. He was really behind in trying to gather items and had to catch up to the others.

--

Shoving open the door, Deidara leaped inside his room and didn't even bother to close his door. "What stuff don't I want, hmph?" he whispered out loud as he looked around his room. Ignore the clay kitten that was on the chair to his desk and the Akatsuki ring he left on the floor, he walked to his bookcase and pulled out random books.

Going through them, he stopped at one book and looked down at its title. _The History of Art? Total crap. The stuff in here isn't even art, hmph. _Deidara frowned to himself as he put the book on his bed to be sent out for sale. Going through more of the books, he added more to the pile on his bed. The books were either boring or ones that he never read and never would read. When the pile was finished, he turned to his bed and saw how most of the books he went through were on his bed.

Walking to it, he stopped to see the Akatsuki ring he had left on the floor from when he was sculpting. Taking it and quickly putting it on, he rushed to the pile and took it to the others. He had forgotten all about the other ring but at a moment like that, there was no time to stop and look anyway.

--

Coming back into his bedroom, Deidara now saw the clay cat walking around the floor in random directions. Ignoring it, he began to look at anything else he didn't want. There were some sculptures that he could put for sale that he lost interest in that sat on another shelf of his bookcase. Getting on his tiptoes, he managed to get them down and look through them.

Again, he made another pile of things he didn't want. This one didn't take as long as the last and he looked at the clay figure that was still wandering his room. A smirk spread on his face as he wondered if they would let him explode it outside. Besides, the sculpture had plenty of time to roam around and now; it was time for it to go bye-bye. Gathering the sculptures and the clay cat, he left his room once again to the living room.

--

"No, I will NOT fucking sell any of my bibles! That even means my ninth one. Nine is my favorite number, too, you fucking moron!" Hidan whined to Kakuzu.

Deidara tried to ignore them but he couldn't help but notice that all of Hidan's items where Jashin-related, no matter the item. Taking some steps away from them, he found Kisame. "Hey!" Deidara called getting beside him, "You think Pein'll let me explode this, hmph? I bet it'll be a real attention grabber and what better way to start than with a nice show of art, hmph?"

Kisame just shrugged and said to give it a shot. He wasn't too sure about the art part but kept it to himself since he didn't want to get into an argument over art but he did agree it would be an attention getter. Leaving him alone, Deidara put his sculptures with his books but kept his clay cat and went off to search for Pein.

Before he could even make it out the room, Deidara stopped with a gasp. Glancing down at the hardened-clay cat that had a small smile, he cried, "What happened to kitty, hmph?!" His outburst scared Kisame and anyone else around. Though it scared him, the question did get Kisame curious as he went to examine the clay cat. "What the hell do you mean 'what happened'? It looks fine." he said bending down to try and level with it.

"No! It's...different but how? When I first made it, it was perfect. Now, it's...horrible!" Deidara continued to whine but even louder now. "What could I have done wrong?! All my sculptures are perfect!"

Watching his friend have an ego landslide, Kisame inched away to get someone to see what exactly was happening. Not long after, he returned with the group and looked down to see Deidara staring at the kitten figurine. The whole room was silence, no one sure of what to say. "Why?!" he yelled, making everyone jump again, "I made this one perfect yet...it's not the same. How could this have happened?! Am I not a good enough artist?"

"What are you talking about?" Itachi asked and then got a cat sculpture shoved towards him. "Look at it! How can you not know?!" Deidara continued, feeling himself just swirling with confusion. When he first made the sculpture, it was fine but now, there was something different. It was still the same color and shape though but there was just something he noticed was different. Could it have been from some type of careless mistake he made? This was a serious slap to his artist reputation. _I couldn't have made a mistake. Everything was perfect...what the fuck could have changed? It doesn't feel the same as it did before! It's so different...it's like it's not even mine's anymore!_

Finally, Sasori was able to try and end the dwelling moment by dragging Deidara away with the cat sculpture on the table. "Come on. Give it a rest already...that damned thing isn't art anyway..." he grumbled leaving the room with a teary eyed Deidara.

Seeing the two leave, Pein seemed confused. "What the hell was that about?" he asked as he looked at the clay cat. Kisame just shrugged, "I don't know. He was going to look for you since he wanted to explode it for a type of attention retriever for when we sell all of this crap. Out of nowhere, he began flipping out about the cat thingy. It looks fine to me though." he explained.

It was true that the cat figurine did look normal which just got him more confused. "You're right. Don't worry about it though. Tomorrow, we'll use it as an opener. Maybe a good explosion will fix him up." Pein shrugged also.

--

It was the next day and though it was just morning, the Akatsuki was setting up shop outside. All the items were put up for people to look through and everyone was there minus Deidara. Ever since the mini episode, no one had really seen him since but then again, he did sort of take a big blow to his ego. Finally, everything was set up and it was time to start the explosion to mark the beginning of the mini sale. They managed to drag Deidara out when the time came but only because they mentioned the exploding of the kitty sculpture. It made him happy though and back to his usual self.

Getting the clay figurine to explode was easy and it did cause attention but at first, negative attention. It attraction police and even the fire department but eventually, it got settled out. Besides that incident, the day went off very well. People were buying things and the Akatsuki was having a fun time. Of course, Kakuzu would get into the usual arguments about pricing but that was just to have been expected.

Some time past and Deidara was looking around at the items that were yet to be bought. Venturing into Konan's section, he looked at random pieces of jewelry that she had put up for sale. Coming across a ring, he paused. _It looks like that weird color changing one I have, hmph_. He smiled and looked down at his hand but saw it was missing. He let out a small gasp and left to his room to get it back.

--

**Tee hee, hm. Does anyone think they know what happened to the ring? I tried to leave mini clues but I'm not sure how helpful they are. Hm, hugs to all who read this! Cookies to those who are with me through the good and the bad! -puts out cookies from thin air-**


	13. A White Lie, Green Money & A Red Ring

**Hm, I just noticed that this story is going to make a month soon. Honestly, it's going better than I expected. Thankies to Panda-chan101 and COTK-NMS! Hm, I still don't own Naruto but I'm happy people like my fanfictions.**

--

Half an hour of searching and no ring was found. Though it drove Deidara mad, it also pushed him to keep looking. He looked under his chair, in his desk, under his bed, everywhere and nothing. _Man! Where the hell could it be, hmph?_ He frowned as he put his hands behind his head. The _last I saw it, it was on the floor but it's gone. _

Seeing how much time had past, Deidara sighed knowing he'd have to go back outside for the sale. Someone must have noticed his absence after half an hour. "I'll look more when I get back," He whispered to himself as he left his room to go back outside.

--

Being outside, he was helping with the selling of the un-wanted items but also kept an eye out for his ring. _I probably put it up for sale with all my other stuff by accident._ He concluded as he kept his wandering eyes at work. He looked from the small tables to even what the others were holding and no luck. Even the help of his camera got him nowhere, which was sad.

More items were bought and the remaining ones grew fewer and fewer. Moments later, he snapped, "I don't buhfuckinglieve this. First I get a slap to my artist reputation and now this! It must be Karma! Why did I have to eat the last God damn Hot Pocket?!" Deidara pleaded while people walked past with an odd look.

While he was having another breakdown, Kakuzu stared and shook his head. "I don't even want to know what the hell is wrong with him." He sighed and turned his attention back to his items on a small blanket that was on a table. Just about all of his items were still there but it must have been because of the outrageous prices.

Watching a person walk by with some things in his hands, Kakuzu smiled. _He must have a lot of money!_ He cheered to himself as he called the man over. "Hello. I see you've been buying some stuff here. See anything you like?" he asked with a careful choice of words. The other didn't say anything but just looked over the displayed items.

Pausing, he pointed to three rolls of thread and asked how much they were. Studying the rolls of thread, he crossed his arms, "For all three? $150." The man stared with wide-eyes, "150 dollars? Why so much?" he questioned as his eyes turned narrow. The question took Kakuzu by surprise, no one had ever questioned his high prices. "Because… It's from Italy! It's rich Italian thread!" he lied with a smile to seem more convincing.

The man gasped a little and also smiled, "Really? That's awesome. I'll take them." Setting down the things he brought, the customer dug through one of his pockets and gave Kakuzu the money. Taking the three rolls of thread and the other things he bought, the man was on his way. Peering down at the money he held, Kakuzu trembled with joy at how easy it was to tick the man and get 150 dollars on top of it.

_Sweeeeet!_ He grinned to himself as he looked to the side to see the customer leaving. It wasn't like the rolls would be missed anyway. A while ago, Hidan and he got into an argument, which somehow resulted into a competition of knitted. It was over as fast as it began and they went on to another thing to argue on.

Greedily shoving the money into his pocket, Kakuzu paused at the sound of a metal clink. Instantly thinking to be falling money, his eyes were already to the floor. Seeing nothing, he sighed but then stopped when he saw something slide by. It seemed really dirty and small. Taking a curious peek at it, Kakuzu discovered it wasn't money, not even a penny.

A disappointed sigh later, he found himself glancing at it again. "What the fuck is it?" he wondered as he squinted his eyes. Eventually, he gave in and went to pick up the metal object. Kakuzu whipped off the dirt and whatever else was on it and saw it was a gray ring. Though it wasn't much of an exciting find, he knew what would be fine with it. He'd sell it.

Checking the condition of the ring and its color, he figured that he'd be able to sell it at a good price. Making room for it on his little stand, be placed it in the front for anyone passing by to see. Stepping back from the stand, he sighed since he now knew that all he had to do was wait.

Minutes past and no one even looked at it. Kakuzu began feeling a bit defeated until he caught sight of a fur coat. A grin quickly emerged onto his face as the owner of the coat made their way over to where he was. When the person got close enough, he saw it was a woman in a rather very expensive outfit. Even the jewelry that she had on must have cost a fortune.

_Score!_ He thought to himself as his eyes twinkled with greed. The closer to the woman got, the more they shined. Finally, she made her way over to him and paused to look at the things that were to be sold. Neither one of them spoke so there was an eerie silence. Slowly, she picked up the gray ring that he found not too long ago and studied it. Though it seemed like everyday silence to the lady, it was killing Kakuzu. _Hurry and buy the damned thing!_ He mentally shouted to her.

"Would you like to buy it?" Kakuzu questioned when the silence was getting to him. He tried not to sound pushy though, which was kind of hard for him. She just looked up to him with a blank expression. "I'm not sure. I do only buy jewelry of the highest quality." She replied in a smart-ass tone. Her voice made one of his temples throb but it seemed like she didn't notice. Kakuzu tried to keep himself calm and thought about how much it would pay off in the end.

"Of course! This ring is pure…silver!" he insisted, taking note of it's shiny gray color. His words seemed to have had an affect on the rich woman as her expression turned to one of joy. "Pure silver, you say?" she asked him with a smile as she glanced down to it.

Kakuzu nodded a few times, anything if it'd make her purchase it. The woman held the ring between two of her fingers and then put it on the table. Getting out her purse, she set out $200 and picked up the ring again, "May I try it on?" Again, he just nodded and watched.

Peeling off one of her silk gloves, she tried on the ring and examined it. "Is 200 dollars enough?" she asked Kakuzu though her eyes were still on the ring while he quickly counted the money with a dreamy grin. Seconds after her question, the gray color gave way to an orange and the woman gasped. Slamming her hand onto the table, she glared at Kakuzu. Now, the ring was red but neither of them noticed.

"Pure silver, my foot! It just turned orange!" she barked at him while Kakuzu leaned back in surprise. Twisting it off her finger, she threw it at Kakuzu with another shout. Swiping her money and silk glove from the table, she was gone with a huff.

Still in a moment of shock, he looked down at the table where the ring landed after it bounced off of him. "What the fuck just happened? I was so close to selling this junk for 200 God damn dollars!" he sighed out as he picked up the ring. It confused him to see that it was gray again. _That rich woman said it turned orange…but it's gray. She must have been seeing things. _This still didn't break his spirit though and simply put it back on the table in case anyone else wanted to buy it.

A few hours past and the Akatsuki called it quits. Just about all of the things were sold and a decent about of money had been made. While the others took everything else back inside, Kakuzu just sadly started down at the ring that still hadn't been bought by anyone. Taking it into his hand, he looked down at it but then put it in his pocket. He'd sell it if it was the last thing he did. Packing up his things, he went back indoors with the others.

--

Now that everything had been un-loaded, the entire group was in the living room talking about how the supposed yard sale went for them. There were some good and bad stories like how some deranged person seriously believed Itachi's sharigan were contacts and wanted to buy it.

"The sale was fun. Tobi sold lots of old toys." He said with a happy voice and some clapping. Pein nodded and also said how the sale was good. Zetsu looked around at the others and suggested, "Why don't we have one again if we ever get loaded with crappy stuff?" but then it might have been to keep himself from being attacked by books again.

The others agreed and the topic was changed to dinner. Randomly, everyone left to their room or to the kitchen to make some food for themselves. While everyone was on their own ways, Kakuzu didn't move but just thought to himself. _Tomorrow, I'll go and sell this ring. I don't even need it so what's the point in keeping it?_ He planned to himself and got up to make dinner.

As they ate, they discussed what should be done with the money. People offered to combine the money and buy something or take a trip somewhere. Of course, keeping your own share was a suggestion.

"I think that we should combine the money and get a new T.V." Kisame suggested as he ate one of his Hungry Man frozen dinners. Some nodded while some shook their heads to his words. One of the person who shook their heads was Hidan who asked, "Why don't we combine the money and buy some more Jashin bib-" but got cut off. "Oh my fucking lord, Hidan!" Kakuzu shouted with his hands in the air, "Jashin this, Jashin that! Why can't we do something smart with the damned money and have everyone keep their own share?" The fighting continued and eventually, the others carried on the conversation. They didn't even bother to break them up if it meant getting their food cold.

Setting down her cup of juice, Konan leaned forward as she spoke, "I kind of agree with Kisame. We should put our money together and buy things for this place like a new T.V., a new sofa, stuff like that." Seeing how strong the idea was, Pein nodded, "Fine, fine. We'll do that. Tomorrow morning, we'll go out to mall. I think there's an Ikea or something there."

When everything was settled, the Akatsuki finished up dinner and left. Whoever's turn it was to wash the dishes while the others stood in the common room or went out of the room. It hurt Kakuzu to know that the next day, the money would be wasted on a new television and furniture. The sofa was fine and the cotton seeping out from the cuts made by Hidan's scythe made it look more broken in.

A small sniffle was all he did before he left to the bathroom for a shower. Leaving, Kakuzu went into his room and put the silver colored ring on his table. "I'll find a way to make money off of you, you just watch." He said to it before going to sleep.

--

**Yup. Kakuzu is the next person and his money loving ass is the perfect target. Next chapter should be up soon, hm. There'll be more trouble for him as he continues to try and sell the mood ring. Hugs to all!**


	14. Ikea's For Buying, Not Selling

**I'm extremely sorry for this long wait. Hm, the week has been chaos... in my point of view anyway. The whole week, I felt very sick (mainly in the mornings when I woke up for school) and my friends began to poke fun that I'm pregnant. Anyway, here I am...typing to my readers (I love you guys!) while my hand is missing a chunk because of some unknown reason and won't stop bleeding. Why does it have to be my left hand, too, hmmm?! -is left handed and all of that stuff-**

**Bad News... Naruto doesn't belong to me... which means I don't own the Akatsuki though I would really love to. **

**Good News... I have no school and homework tomorrow so I'll try to speed it up with the chapter postings.**

**Thankies to... EmoLollipop, Panda-chan101 and AlexPwnsJoo.**

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The next morning, everyone woke up bright and early to go to the mall as planned. One by one, the Akatsuki made their way into the living room to gather. First was Tobi who sat down on the sofa and played with one of his toys while he waited. Seeing Hidan drag his feet into the room, he got greeted with a cheery, "Morning, Hidan!" Slowly moving his eyes to the other ninja, he growled in a grumpy fashion. "Yeah, yeah, you cheery bastard." Hidan said back as he also sat on the sofa. There was an awkward silence until more people came.

When the whole group was in the living room, Pein announced that they would be leaving to the mall until someone brought up the issue of transportation. "How will we get there?" someone asked and everyone paused. The expression on Pein's face was a blank one before he said, "...We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." It wasn't a response they wanted to hear but they went along with it anyway.

--

Now outside, they all huddled up with their eyes on Pein. It was time to cross the bridge and they needed an answer on how they'd be getting to the mall. "We'll take..." he started with a look around, "The bus!" Everyone nodded and then broke up to go to the bus stop. Looking around, the money-lover couldn't help but ask, "The bus is free, right?" but then found out it wasn't. When he got told that the fare for the bus was two dollars, he almost threw a fit and went back home. Remembering what he promised himself about selling the ring, he stood. _If I'm going to be paying two dollars per bus ride, I better get some good money from this ring._ He thought to himself with a frown.

The bus stop wasn't far but the catch was the wait for it to come. "Which bus are we going to take?" Konan asked while she waited near the bus stop pole. At the top of the pole, there were tags with bus numbers on them that indicated what buses stopped there. Pein looked up and read the numbers out loud, "20... 21... holy shit, there's a 22 bus?" Watching the leader of the group in such shock, the others began to feel under of themselves.

Finally, a bus arrived which turned out to be the 20. The Akatsuki got in but before paying, they asked if the bus stopped at the mall they wanted to go. The driver gave an absent-minded nod, they all paid. Of course, Kakuzu was the last to pay though it took him a while to do it. He could have saved the two dollars for something useful, too... or just locked it away in his bedroom.

Moving to the back of the bus, they all sat down. They got a few weird looks from their cloud-splattered cloaks but no one dared to say a word. Sasori sighed and began to complain to himself. "Damned bus better not take forever to-" he began but got cut off when the bus began to move and tossed him onto the floor. Having his face down on the floor, he trembled before yelling a muffled, "FUCK!" which got the attention of a few people who were sitting near him.

Of course, there was always that one person who had to push the issue though. An old woman frowned at the curse that had been yelled out and carefully made her way to Sasori. "Such language from a child! Are your parents around?" she asked, not even bothering to help him up. Whispering more curses to himself, the small redhead looked up at the elderly woman. "I'm not a child," he replied coldly as he went to sit back in his seat. The response made the woman gasp but then wag a finger, "Don't get fresh with me. I'm sure this isn't the way your parents raised you to behave."

The constant talking from her made Sasori roll his eyes and ignore her. Thankfully, she left him alone and went back to her seat. As she did all of this, Sasori watched her with a smirk. He had a plan for revenge and was now going to put it into play. Making his way to where Kakuzu was, he leaned closer to him. "Hey, think that lady over there has a bunch of change in her pocket." he said with a quick point to her. Of course, he fell for it and snapped his head to see the elderly woman. "Really? No way!" he said quickly but didn't even stick around to hear the response.

Getting beside the woman, he looked at the pocket of her jacket with a smirk. _A bunch of change, huh?_ He thought to himself as he slipped a hand into the pocket. She did nothing but looked out the window, not even noticing Kakuzu's hand in her pocket. Carefully feeling around for any money, he felt what seemed to be paper. It was a joyous discovery as he cheered in his mind. _Fuck change, bills are better!_ As soon as he took hold of the bill, the woman turned and caught him with his hand in her jacket pocket. Not even bothering to say a word, the woman growled and gave him a firm whack on the head.

"What the hell!" Kakuzu cursed in pain, which only made the woman hit him again. "Get away from me, you filthy pick pocket-er!" she shrieked which just got all of the passengers' attention. Quickly releasing the money, he took his hand from her pocket and stood up to get away. Trying to get to the back of the bus with the others, it randomly came to a dead stop and Kakuzu's face hit the floor.

All the way in the front, the driver leaned over to look at what was going on. With a sigh, he stood up and went to get a closer look. "Ma'am, please, no yelling." he told her in a dead voice but then she explained to him about the pick pocketing. The driver looked at Kakuzu who was now trying to get away when he crossed his arms. Taking a step closer to him, he questioned, "Sir, did you try to take her money?" and Kakuzu didn't answer.

Not wanting to put up with any of it, he saw the rest of the Akatsuki in their matching cloaks. Putting two and two together, he frowned, "I'm going to have to ask you guys to get off right now." It caused uproar with them while Kakuzu cursed back, "No fucking way. I just paid two dollars and I'm sure as Hell not leaving!" More words were exchanged, a seat was cut in two thanks to Hidan and voices were raised. It didn't really help much though and only got them kicked out even faster.

--

"Well, wasn't that fucking nice?" Hidan whined in a sarcastic tone as he and the others watched the bus continue down the street from the sidewalk. Kisame nodded and then sighed, "Last time we ever take a bus together. Let's take the train home when we're done. We can't get kicked out from there, can we?"

Everyone agreed and then it was time for the game plan. The small group steps forward to be a little closer. "Alright. This is what we do. We'll go to Ikea and split up. Search for things you think we need and met back in the entrance in half an hour." Pein instructed as he looked around to the others. They all agreed and went into the Ikea.

--

Once inside, Kakuzu went to one section of the store but to find someone to sell the ring to. He knew his instructions and planned to do it afterwards. _It doesn't take half an hour to sell a ring, right? _He wondered when he saw a group of people examining some furniture that was set on display. With a clear of the throat, he got most of the people's attention. Taking the ring from his pocket, he showed it to them. "Anyone interested in buying this?" he asked while he held it out for one of the people to see. It was a good start but eventually got him nowhere. This wasn't a start he was looking for and then continued to search for people. By now, he didn't care about Pein's orders. Why waste money on furniture they already had anyway?

Leaving the section, he went to another and did the same. The results were no different and only but him even more annoyed. "Dammit!" Kakuzu scolded out loud, "How can it be so fucking hard to just sell this shit?!" The people that were around gave him an odd look and slowly left. _It probably just needs a push... a little lie can't hurt anyone._

The half hour was almost up but he didn't even notice. Putting his sights on his latest victim, he got beside the person. "Hey. Interested in buying this?" he asked, getting straight to the point. So far, this was the most successful person and they picked up the ring to examine it. Looking at Kakuzu, they asked, "What is this?" He didn't answer but looked at the ring. Sticking to the lie he had told yesterday, he said that the ring was silver. Nothing else was said; the person tried on the ring and examined it.

"Ew, it's orange...ew, it's red...ew, it's black!" they said, trying to keep up with the changes in color. Throwing back the ring at Kakuzu they left while he stared on. It was the same reaction and this time, even he saw the ring change color. Looking down at the now gray ring, he seemed very unsure. _If it changes color... what the fuck is this_? The mental question wasn't a very comforting one but then he lit up at the thought that maybe he could help him sell it. _People like color changing rings...right?_

With a new view of the ring, he returned it into his pocket and went to find the next person. Wandering into the front of the store, he saw the others as they waved to him. "Kakuzu, get your ass over here. We've been waiting for fucking ever!" Hidan yelled which almost got him kicked out. _Oh, crap. That's right. I forgot about that half an hour thing...oops. _

"Uh...yeah, I forgot about that. Sorry." he said once he got back with the others. Everyone just shrugged, quickly letting it go. Again, Pein took charge of the conversation, "Did anyone find anything good?" Once that was said, Deidara instantly began to, "Oh, oh, oh!" with a hand in the air. "I found something, hmph!" he said with his hand now waving around in the air. Everyone sighed while Konan asked, "Is it that bird pillow thingy?" which made him gasp. "How'd you know?!" he said in a loud voice but she stood calm. "Because I saw you hugging the stuffing out of it while going, 'Oh my God! So cute, hmph! I want it!'" she explained and the others broke up laughing.

As they laughed, Deidara frowned. "Well, did any of you find anything better, hmph?" he asked, which they nodded to. Turns out, Pein found a sofa, Sasori and Zetsu discovered a T.V., Hidan found a coffee table, Kisame and Konan saw a nice bundle of chairs, Tobi managed to come across a nice rug and Itachi believed he saw...yes, believed, not found or anything because who knows with his eyesight, a nice bookcase. Kakuzu kept quiet since he hadn't even bothered to look. No one said anything about it but probably because they expected something like this from him.

"Alright. Let's vote on the priority of the items. Who thinks what should be the first thing we check out?" Pein asked and got mixed responses but the main one was the television. Even he agreed with this one so he just nodded. Having Sasori and Zetsu lead him and the rest of the group to where they saw the T.V., Kakuzu felt the suspense of it all. _That T.V. better not cost a lot!_ He yelled to himself in his mind but only let out a mumble.

Finally stopping in front of the television, they all smiled at the sight of it. This was defiantly one that they wanted to buy. "How much is it?" Kakuzu asked with slightly suspicion. It was a nice one, he had to admit, but that just meant the cost would be even higher. Looking at the little sticker that was just below it, Zetsu said out loud, "Five hundred." It just wanted to make him cry but he managed to keep himself calm.

"Crap, 500?" Pein asked with a hand on his head, "We only made like...what? 480?" This brought a mixed batch of emotions to them. They wanted it so bad but they were just twenty dollars short. Everyone was quiet until Tobi spoke up. "Tobi has some money!" he declared with a hand down his pocket. It sparked and went to the others as they also said they have some money to pitch in. When everything was said and done, they had enough to pay for the television. If it didn't make him cry then, what Sasori brought up might have. "Hey, does anyone know how much they charge for tax? I almost forgot about that." he said but then turned to see Kakuzu shouting, "**TAX**?!"

No one bothered to tell him anything since it was Kakuzu just being... Kakuzu. Tossing in what seemed like enough to cover the rent, Kisame cheered, "Alright! Now we can get the T.V.!" _Dammit. Why the fuck do they want to waste money on another television?!_ He continued to shout in his mind. "I'll get a worker to come and help us with it." Sasori told the group before leaving to find a worker. Watching him leave, Kakuzu began to see this what he final good chance at selling the ring. "I...I'll be right back." he suddenly said and rushed not even bothering to hear any of the replies.

Running from group to group of random people, no one bothered to even think twice about purchasing it. Now, he was starting to get desperate since in a matter of minutes, 500 dollars would be flushed down the toilet and the sooner the ring was sold, the better. Coming into a brand new group of people, he paused and began to breathe hard. "Hello. Are you interested in buying this fine ring?" Kakuzu asked one of the people, trying not to sound too direct though he was in a rush to have it sold to someone.

He just blankly looked at Kakuzu and then down to the ring. Taking it up, he began to examine it. "Who is it from? Any top quality maker?" he asked as he turned the ring over to see more of it. _Oh fucking Lord, not another one!_ He screamed, seeing how this male was just like the woman from the yard sale the day before. He didn't even care much though and blurted out a random designer's name. "Oh, really?" he said back with a grin and looked at the ring even closer now. Kakuzu just watched as he bite his bottom lip. _So far so good._

The man eventually came to a complete stop when his expression darkened. "This is a fake!" he shouted which made Kakuzu gasp. _Dammit! He found out! _Having the ring thrown back at him, he started to run away but the male followed. "Faker!" the man yelled after him. All of this really got everyone's attention and even the Akatsuki who were waiting for him in the front of the Ikea store. Seeing their friend running to them with a total stranger behind them, they all had their questions. "LET'S GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" Kakuzu yelled to them and without a word or a not, they was outside.

--

Now in the safety of the train, they all were sitting down. It was then Kakuzu noticed that the television wasn't with them. "Where's the T.V.?" he asked them and Itachi replied, "They're going to deliver it to us." The answer made him nod but then gasp. "Fuck! What could shipping and handling?!" he cried out and Itachi just rolled his eyes, much like the others. Mumbling to himself about it, he looked down at the ring that had been in his fit the entire time. _Fucking piece of shit. I can't get rid of this damned thing!_ He cursed as he stared down at it. Quietly sighing, he put it back into his pocket.

The rest of the train ride was silent and eventually their stop came. Getting off the train, the Akatsuki went up the stairs. Coming outside, the fresh air hit Kakuzu but what also hit him was a thought.

"Hey, did you guys get any change back?"

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**Okay,** **that's all for this chapter. Wishing you guys enjoyed it, hm. As I was typing, I had another "Holy Fuck This Story Is Turning Out To Be Longer Than I Thought" moments. I tend to get them alot, hm. Hugs to all!**


	15. Then Jashin Gave Us Hidan

**Yay for another chapter, hm. Everything that's in italics are thoughts. Hm, Naruto and Care Bears don't belong to me. Thankies to Xarkun's Shadow, Checkers467, Panda-chan101 and AlexPwnsJoo (my hand is better, thanks...now, it just looks like I got stabbed with a marker somehow! xD) . Yay times two, hm. Happy you're all enjoying it. **

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No one had answered his question just to mess around with him. Now, they were back home and still no one had told him if they got back change. "No, we didn't get any change back!" Zetsu whined when he couldn't take Kakuzu's constantly questioning. It really wasn't one that he wanted to hear as he threw up his hands and yelled, "Fucking lord, no change? Dammit!" With those final words, he stomped to his bedroom.

Once there, he continued with his little tantrum and threw himself on the bed. Facing the ceiling, he wore a furious expression as he recalled all the events that day. _Fuck, man! This day has been total shit! I think someone's out to get me. _After some thinking had been done, the silver colored ring had been removed from Kakuzu's pocket as he deathly glared at it. _Ugh, don't even get me started on this piece of shit!_ He thought to himself as his expression changed to one of disgust. Turning his eyes to the ceiling, he angrily threw the ring and didn't even bother to see where it went.

As the silver ring flew the short distance, it still shimmered in the light of the room and fell to the floor with a metallic clink. Kakuzu didn't even bother to look at the ring or make an effort to get it back. The sound just made him blink as his eyes were still focused on the ceiling of his room. The clinking noise wasn't the end of it as it began to roll across the floor much like a coin on its side would. It began to go in circling, creating a very low rolling noise but eventually got lower and lower as it rolled under the door and into the hall.

--

The Akatsuki's proud Jashinist rushed down the hall, eager to start his praying and maybe even get a sacrifice or something in. Hidan picked up the pace, as his smile slowly grew bigger as he saw his room wasn't very far. He suddenly paused though when he felt like he had kicked something. Looking down, he saw something rolling down the hallway. From the accidental kick, he could tell it was small and hard, most likely metal or something. Chasing after it, he swiped it up and looked at it. Seeing that it was just a ring, he got a bit curious about whom it could belong to. Hidan quickly let the question go as he continued to his room to pray but now with the ring in hand.

Hidan rushed into his bedroom and threw the ring onto his dresser. Nothing could pull him away from his religion, which was something the Akatsuki knew too well. Sadly, Tobi found it out the hard way but in the end learned why the arm is meant to only bend so much. Clapping his hands around the rosary that he had on, his eyes were closed as he began to mouth out some words. This went on for a good amount of time until he sighed loudly and looked down to the rosary with a smile.

Leaving his spot, he began to pace around a bit, in though of what to do next to serve Jashin. Maybe he could stab himself a few times but he did that last time and was left back at square one. Hidan made a small 'U' turn in his room as he turned to complete his wandering circle. As he past his dresser, he paused and saw the newly found ring that seemed to have been watching him.

Stepping over to it, he picked up and looked at the gray color. There wasn't much to look at though since the entire band was gray. A second more of looking at it and a thought came to Hidan's mind. _Could this be from Jashin?_ Yes, it started to look like everyone there had their own batch of issues and one of Hidan's was his obsession with his religion. Who would have thought that the great Akatsuki was so superstitious? _Ha! It must be how else could I have found it? I know I'll use it to help continue serving him. This should really please him. _

He wasn't too sure how such a ring could aid him in it but then again... he wasn't in the Akatsuki for nothing. Looking at the inside of the band, Hidan frowned when he saw nothing that looked like it could cut him or even do anything more than minimal damage. Taking a desperate attempt at harming himself, he dragged the smooth band across his arm. It just glided over his arm, which disappointed him. "You must be fuckin' kidding me!" he whispered with a shake of the head when he saw what had happened. This was slowly annoying him and he couldn't keep the rest of his Jashinist business on hold. "Oh, fuck it." Hidan sighed as he tossed it back onto his dresser and left his room.

Over in the living room, the others were there. "No way! You mean to tell me you'd be Surprise Bear?!" Konan asked with a hand on her stomach from laughing. In some twisted way, they got into a conversation about Care Bears and if you were watching, you'd think they were pretty drunk, too. Almost everyone soon joined her in the laughter. They eventually stopped when they heard Kisame began to speak, "I'd be... FunShine Bear!" while everyone roared with more laughter. Someone even threw in a random, "Get the fuck outta here!" into it.

Even when Hidan entered did the laughter not stop and he just ignored them. They seemed drunk anyway and when your drunk, everything is funny... even the stupidest thing so he didn't even want to know what it was they was talking and laughing about. _Fuckin' drunk retards._ He sighed to himself as he went into the kitchen and searched for a good enough knife to use.

The first stab was always a quick little one to see how the knife was and just to be a little warm up. To Hidan, it was only the best for Jashin. Finding the knife to be good enough, he continued with the stabbing on his arm and eventually to his chest. He couldn't help but laugh when he began to feel his shirt grow heavy from absorbing so much of the blood. When it began to soak up more blood, Hidan frown and threw it to the floor. He always liked to see his flood running down his skin so he knew it was for his beloved God and not some stupid shirt. Besides, the shirt got in the way of the stabbing and just got in the way of everything in general if it was religion, cleaning, anything. If it were up to him, he'd trot around without a shirt on in the middle of winter.

More laughing could be heard from Hidan though he didn't even know it, being so wrapped up in his rituals. It was then a curious head poked it's way into the kitchen through the entrance way and watched him. "Clean it up when you're done." the voice said like a parent would remind a child. Once he looked to see who it was, it was too late and he was alone again.

Seeing how the stabs have been good enough, he stopped to patch himself up. Looking down to the blood stained floor, he sighed and got the mop. It had been used to cleanup bloody messes so much, the once bright yellow sponge was now bloody red. As Hidan mopped up the blood, his thoughts went back to the ring he had found. It couldn't cut him or do any type of harm to him so what was the point? He truly believed it to be a gift from Jashin but why send a useless gift? _Jashin works in mysterious ways. Maybe I'm just not thinking right about it. Nah. _

Finally, he was finished and put away the mop. His torn and blooded shirt was in the trash since even if it had been washed... it still would have been torn. Scanning the kitchen for anything else, his violet eyes fell to the ring he had put on the counter while mopping. Taking it into his hands, he just put it into his pocket to deal with for later. _I'll solve Jashin's puzzle_. He determinedly thought to himself.

Hidan wasn't really amazed to see his friends still crowded in the common room talking about Care Bears. Though he didn't know much about them, he was learning some things through the conversation. As he sat down, he heard Deidara call him Grumpy Bear. He wasn't very sure who Grumpy Bear was but he could tell from the name, it wasn't something good. "Fuck off!" Hidan almost yelled but just got an, "Ah? See?" from Deidara who just pointed to him as though all he had been told flew over his head.

"Aw, it's okay, Grumpy Bear. You get a rain cloud on your stomach." Zetsu said with a mock comfort tone. It actually scared Hidan since he began to wonder if his friend actually knew what was on the animal's stomachs or if it was another joke. Still, it didn't stop him from snapped back, "And you'll get a fist on your gut if you don't shut the fuck up!"

After his words were yelled, they began to laugh while Itachi shook his head. It looked like he and Hidan were the only sober ones while the others were drunk. Seeing how they were the only ones not laughing, the Uchiha looked to the other and said in a low voice, "They called me... Amigo Bear." Though Itachi had spoken low and there was so much noise from the laughing, Hidan still heard him. Maybe it was another gift that he had. _Amigo Bear? How did they... is that even... never mind._ His expression morphed into a thoughtful and slightly confused one. Looking back at Itachi, he saw him shrug. _That's it. My ass is getting out of here. _With that final thought, Hidan left before the loud group could go on.

The silver haired member sighed once he reached the safety of his room. Once there, he looked at the ring he had found again. He'd figure out what the purpose of it was if it was the last thing he did. _If it can't cut me... can it crush my fingers?_ He bizarrely wondered as he put it on one finger to see it turned orange. Not even caring for the color change, he saw it fit and tried to put it on two fingers at once.

There was no way it would fit but Hidan tried anyway and it did kind of hurt but not enough to do for a ritual. _Fuck, man_. Throwing the ring to his bed, he sat beside it and began to think of some ways to harm himself with it. _If that didn't work... maybe I should... jump on it with a barefoot?_ The ideas were getting weirder and weirder though it all ended the same. With pain but as much as he had wanted so it was back to the drawing board. After two hours, Hidan got nowhere and ended up cursing for it. Leaving he ring in his room, he went back to the living room out of random boredom.

--

**Yeah, Hidan's a nut but that's why we love him. Hm, I hope no one got offended somehow by the little praying part. I don't pray or even know how if there's a specific way to so I just typed what I see other's do. Besides that... the story is moving more to the ending and out of the middle so we're somewhere in between. Hm, hugs to all!**


	16. Faith Is It's Own Test

**Hm, I'm starting to notice how bad of a multi-tasker I am. There's two stories that I'm writing and now it takes forever for me to post a chapter. The other story is almost over though and I'll be back to just writing CCM. Hm, Naruto isn't mine's but the plot is. Thankies to Marissafish, AlexPwnsJoo an Panda-chan101, hm!**

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Now Hidan was back in the common room, he noticed how they wasn't taking about Care Bears anymore but about something else. Taking his usual seat on the sofa, he noticed Kakuzu was now with them. "There you are." Pein said once he laid eyes on him, "You're going to be putting up the T.V. when we get it which should beeee... tomorrow." Hearing the news made him groan, "Awww. Why the fuck do I have to do it?" but the response was short and simple. "Because you ate my last pop tart and didn't even have the nerve to put it in the toaster first."

He just remained silent but then began to whine to himself, "I didn't see a post-it on it..." The silence in the room was interrupted by Kisame's coughing. On his lap was a plate with some cookies and they shook with each cough he let out. "What the hell?! These cookies suck!" he said when he looked to the plate on his lap. Beside him was a smirking Sasori, "I can't smell or anything and I could have told you those cookies were no good." Kisame just ignored the other's words and groaned as he leaned back into the sofa. "What cookies?" Hidan couldn't help but ask and got past the plate from Kisame.

Taking the deep blue plate into his hands, he looked down at the cookies and then back to Kisame. "What type of cookies are these? I don't think I've seen them before." Hidan said as he sat the plate on his lap and took up a cookie. The other Akatsuki replied through another groan, "Some coconut bull crap." The answer was a poor one but then in the condition he was in, Hidan didn't expect a grade A answer.

Returning his purple eyes to the cookies, he brought one to his face to look at it some more. As he brought it to him, he paused. _Oh, yeah. It's defiantly coconut. _Taking it away from his face, he tilted his head, his hair not moving an inch to the movement, and shrugged to himself. _What the hell that can happen?_ Hidan carelessly thought to himself and ate the entire cookie. Really, it didn't taste too bad but when he swallowed, it came crashing down into a sick frown. "GAH! THE KIND OF FUCKING COOKIES ARE THESE?" Hidan yelled quickly putting the plate onto a table.

Leaning back in his seat, he looked to Kisame to voice his agreement but then stopped when he saw him with a hand over his stomach. One more groan from him caused his other hand to fly onto his mouth and he jumped to his feel. "I fink I'm bunna be fick" Kisame said and made a dash out the room to the bathroom.

"Ew! Kisame's gonna toss his cookies!" Tobi whined while Konan nodded and whispered, "And quite literally, too." Seconds after that had been said, the sound of someone throwing up journeyed into the room. Kakuzu rolled his eyes and then held a cheek in one of his hands. "He better be throwing up in the toilet and not on the floor. I don't want to fucking waste floor cleaner on his disgusting barf," he said though no one seemed to have paid mind.

The sounds paused for a moment and then returned but it was now the sounds of someone coughing. Looking to the doorway leading out the common room and into the hall, Tobi frowned though no one could tell from his ever-present mask. "It sounds painful. Is Kisame going to die?" he asked Zetsu, sounding like a worried child. He just looked to the worried Akatsuki member and gave a small smile, "He'll be okay. If he was alright at the chili dog eating contest, he'll be alright now."

What Zetsu said seemed to have done the trick as Tobi nodded and went back to letting out his cheery barrier. Hidan just watched and got an idea from what was said. _It sounds painful... maybe if I eat the ring, I'll be in pain. I'll be using Jashin's gift to help serve him further! _But then his eyes widened and his hand jumped onto his bare stomach by some sort of weird reflex. "Oh, shit. I feel sick." he said out loud and dug his nails into his skin. With a small twitch, his other hand was sent to cover his mouth. Not even a word later, he was out the room and to the other bathroom.

"What's going on here?" Itachi finally asked after seeing two of his friends run to the bathroom to throw up after eating the cookies. Slowly getting up, he went to the plate that was on the table and looked down to the cookies. Reaching out a pale hand, he took one of the cookies and brought it to him to look at it closer. "DON'T DO IT!" he heard someone scream which almost made him fall over. Itachi whipped his head to see Deidara who was shivering with a teary eye. "Don't do it!" he repeated, "Itachi, don't eat it, hmph. They're **evil** cookies! Kisame and Hidan got sick from eating it. WHAT TYPE OF FUCKING COOKIES DO THAT, HMPH?!"

Itachi just stared but then whispered, "I wasn't going to eat it." Setting down the cookie, he left the room but returned seconds later with the box that the cookies belonged to. Holding it up higher for the others to see, he whispered to them, "These cookies... they're nearly two months old." Everyone became deathly silent before Konan was the first to move and grab the box. "No fucking way." she said to herself before seeing the box and coming to terms that Itachi was right.

"Ewwwwww. So they ate month old cookies?" Tobi began to whine again. No one bothered to say anything but just nod since it seemed very clear at that point. Itachi left to the kitchen but this time with the box and plate of the old cookies. Again, he returned and now empty handed from throwing away the cookies and putting the plate in the sink. Also coming into the room was Kisame who looked a little better but still with a hint of sickness. "I'm fine... just... going to my room." he said and left again with even his voice seeming down in the dumps.

Next to return was Hidan who looked the same as Kisame and even offered to go to his room, too. "I'll be in my room," he muttered to them as he hanged his head into the doorway and then went to his bedroom. Sure, he may have gotten sick from the cookies but the whole incident did bring an idea on how the ring could continue to help him serve Jashin.

Barging into his own room, he saw the ring and quickly took it up in his hand. _Swallowing it could put me in pain just like the crappy cookies._ He smiled as his thoughts without even thinking about any consequences but then again this was Hidan. Putting his hand to the air and leaning back his head, he opened his mouth but quickly closed it and stopped the ring. It fell from his hand and hit his nose and then onto the floor. "Fuck. I think I'm going to throw up again," he whispered though he didn't.

Slowly putting the ring back onto his desk, he declared he'd get to it the next day and just laid in his bed. The constantly feeling of throwing up had him eyeing his door just about the entire time. It somehow became very tiring and he eventually landed himself into a sleep.

--

The dreamless sleep was later interrupted with a knock on the door and Hidan cracked open his eyes. It didn't help since they were half-lidded but at least me made it to the door without any trouble. The sleep must have been a good one since he had forgotten all about what had happened the day before though got reminded as he opened the door.

"Ah, you're okay. Good. The television came." Zetsu smiled as he stood in the doorway of the room. Hidan just ignored what he had said and went deeper into his room without a word. He looked for a shirt since he already knew how the drill was for things like this and quickly put it on. Returning back to where Zetsu was, he nodded and followed him into the living room.

The scene in the living room was like a crime scene with the furniture moved, two strangers with little radios and a big box. "Um... I'll set it up." Hidan said, a bit unsure on what to say. The two looked to him with a nod and began to talk to Pein. As Hidan carefully stepped to the box, he saw what looked like Kakuzu in a fetal position but it was probably because it was now official that they had spent the money from the sale on the new television. "What a fucking wuss." he whispered to himself as he opened the box.

Half an hour, lung-fulls of yelling and cursing and banging on the wall from trying to put it up, which probably gave the neighbors nosebleeds from some naughty thoughts later... the television was set up. "Well, there it is," Hidan sighed when he was finally done but then whispered, "The damn shit." because of all the trouble it gave him.

Everyone cheered and for some reason joined into a group hug. "Yeah, that's nice." Sasori said in the usual uncaring tone, as he was the first to break away from the love. Taking his usual seat in the chair, he turned his red-brown eyes to the others. "What are we going to do with-" he was going to ask but got interrupted with giggling. "Tobi likes this box!" he continued to giggle as he somehow was in the box.

"Yyyyyeah. Who wants breakfast, hmph?" Deidara asked as he slowly looked away from Tobi. No one said anything until Pein coughed, "Deidara... all you know how to make it powdered drinks and... bacon." His words didn't insult him but made his glow with pride. "Damn right, I know how to make bacon, hmph!" which was true since his was the best in the Akatsuki... meaning it was actually decent. Hidan watched the two go back and forth before becoming confused. _Breakfast? It's fucking morning already?_ With a quick look to the window, he saw the sunlight peeking through it. _Damn. How the hell did I miss that?_

Remembering the small promise he had made to himself, he left the room and into his to get the ring. Without even a second thought, he quickly swallowed it but nothing happened. "Dammit!" Hidan yelled when he saw nothing happened but then started up a coughing fit. It continued to the poor his throat felt soar and it actually began to hurt. _Hah! This is great! _With one more cough, he actually spit the ring back up and it fell back onto the floor.

Left panting, Hidan looked at the saliva covered ring and took it up with a towel. "Shit! This isn't real... I can't serve Jashin... then," he mumbled before stopping completely to dry the ring with the towel. He stared down to it before going into a blind rampage that he failed in serving his beloved Jashin. Not even thinking, he threw the ring out of the room, anything to get it away from him at the moment. He eventually continued to cut up any worthless things that were in his room with maniacal yells.

--

**Nyahh. Hm, I'm not very happy with this chapter but I really hate to keep you guys waiting any longer. I have also learned something along with being a horrible multi-tasker... listening to Thousand Foot Krutch somehow gets me typing more. Hm, it's officially my typing music. I will try to get the next chapter up whenever possible but now I see that I shouldn't make any promises about it.**


	17. These Are Called Bumps In The Road

**Ah, I must start with typing this... I'm very happy with this chapter though it's not as long as the others. Anyway, nothing to really put here besides my big list of thankies, hm. I actually recieved lots of letters about this story from readers and I'm so happy about how popular this is becoming. Hm, alright. Let's get through this so we can start with the chapter.**

**I don't own Naruto or a mood ring.**

**Big thankies to... Krystal-kun, White-winter-wolf, Panda-chan101, Aurora Marija, Dictator panda-chan and Eclipse Eternity!**

--

The yells from Hidan's room could easily be heard in the common room. There, the rest of the Akatsuki began to exchange curious looks amongst themselves. As much as the group seemed to be some type of family from Hell, they were just as nosey as one. "So..." one of them randomly said with a shrug, "... Sasori should go and check is out!" It was then that all eyes were on him. He just glared at the others but wordlessly got up from the couch.

Slowly, the short redhead exited the room and went into the hall. He never would understand why they always put him up to such annoying tasks. Really, Sasori couldn't care less what Hidan was doing since it was his own business. There wasn't much he could do against it because of his fragile puppet body and childish appearance but then he could always get revenge through the classic poison in the food/drink trick.

Just the thought made him smirk and he stopped when he got to Hidan's room. The door was open and the shouting was louder. Along with that, he could now hear things breaking and literally being ripped into pieces. One more step and Sasori paused as his brown-ish eyes stared forward. The reason for it wasn't the noises from Hidan's bedroom but he suddenly felt a bit of un-evenness. Turning his eyes down to his sock covered feet, he took step forward and felt both his feet were leveled to the floor or what he could feel.

It all got him curious and he quickly lost the almost non-existent thought of checking on the silver haired Jashinst. Sasori just looked back to see what made the difference in level and saw something gray on the dark floor. Instantly, he thought it was something one of them had dropped onto the floor so he lazily picked it up. Now, standing back up straight, he looked at the gray ring in his small hand. Still, he didn't speak though it was the complete opposite in his mind.

_What's this? Never seen it before. Oh, well. Whoever it belongs to will start asking around if they want it back. _

The thought was a very simple one as he put the ring absent-mindedly into his pants pocket and peeked into the bedroom. All this time, nothing has been spoken and even as Sasori watched Hidan, it was all wordless. As the other charged around the room, he continued to slice whatever he could lay his eyes on, not caring much about the consequences. He didn't even notice the childish looking Akatsuki watching him as all of this happened.

A minute past and Sasori eventually left to go back to the common room. In his opinion, what he saw was usual and he knew the others would agree. Their reason for sending him out like that was just to be nosey. Everyone gets mad and eventually loses their temper about one thing or another. Also, this was Hidan that he was watching which supported it to the end.

"He's fine. Just having a temper tantrum about something," he reported to the others once he got back and sat down again.

Everyone nodded though Itachi frowned a bit, "I hope it's not because he found that bible I was reading with the dog eared the pages." The whispering caused him to receive looks from all the others and he just shrugged as if the damage was already done. The room went back into silence, which made the yelling in the background seem even louder. Now, to fight the noise, Deidara came in from the kitchen with the smell of bacon plastered to his clothing. "Breakfast is done!" he cheered, "Iced tea and bacon, hmph!"

No one bothered to even move though Sasori looked to him. "That's all you make... and can make," he said with an annoyed sway as the rest of the Akatsuki agreed. The negative words made the other frown and his shoulders dropped. "But, you don't get it, hmph. The bacon has to be fried perfectly and the iced tea has to be proportional and everything! ... Holy crap... I said 'proportional', hmph!" Deidara cheered with the look of someone winning a spelling bee contest. That was the last straw as Sasori hopped to his feet, "I'll be in my room." and left.

--

Once Sasori got into the comfort of his room, he sat on his bed and stared at one of the puppets he had been working on. The other side of the room was one of his more favorites, Hiruko that sat on the floor. Just from the looks, someone can tell construction had been started but not yet completed.Pushing himself from the bed, he walked the short distance to Hiruko but just continued to look at it. While the brown eyes traced the outline of the puppet, he thought about where he had left off and what else needed to be changed.

When the small inspection was completed, Sasori stood up and went to gather some tools. He soon returned with a small hammer and a group of puppet parts that was held under one of his arms. An hour later, the construction was completed though Sasori remained in a crouching position. He gave Hiruko a final look-over while trying to get a good view of it.

Everything eventually seemed in order and the short puppet sighed. _Another successful construction. _The thought was a happy one and matched the small smile that seemed made its way to his face. His smile slowly faded a little when he began to feel a bit hungry. Sure, he was mostly puppet but some of his body was still human. Sasori gathered the leftover parts and hammer as he turned away from Hiruko to stand up.

As he did, he felt the ring in the pocket shift, making the material of his pants lightly rub on his thigh. The almost un-noticeable feeling surprised him until he remembered about the ring but ignored it for a moment. When the puppet parts and other supplies were put away, Sasori dug a small hand into his pocket and took out the ring.

The ring was small to begin with but now seemed even smaller since Sasori was holding it. It also felt very light, or that's what he thought from what little he could feel from it. It's gray color seemed rather depressing but it wasn't that that has gotten the redhead's attention. With a tilt of the head, the ring was closer to his brown eyes. Silently, it got taken away but still studied. _What a nice piece of art. _The compliment rang out in his thoughts. _Very simple but just as nice. It seems very durable and can stand just about any kind of weather and abuse. This is certainly something people can come to admire._

His thoughts came to a rolling end and he was left to watch the ring. The basic emotion of curiosity quickly took over as he began to roll the ring around on his palm with one of his fingers. Slowly, Sasori grabbed it between two of his pale fingers and slipped it onto one of his other ones.

It was surprising that he fit him and continued to watch the gray ring. The color didn't change but then Sasori didn't really expect it to. Another wave of hunger hit him and he looked away from the ring to the door leading out his room. _Oh, yeah. I skipped breakfast. _He reminded himself and began to leave his bedroom and into the hallway.

Once in the hall, the game was on to try and make something to eat. Maybe he could find some leftovers or something. It really didn't matter to him since he could barely taste the food and he didn't need much of it anyway. Turning a corner, Sasori froze with his foot in mid-air when he heard something snap.

Curious brown eyes searched the hallway for what had broken though nothing could be found. It was then Sasori felt as if he was missing something… and found out what it was when he looked down. The puppet finger that had the gray ring on it had literally broken off and fallen to the floor. With a grumble, he set his foot down and picked up his fallen finger. How could he forget his fingers weren't real but just one of the many part of it that was wooden?

Having a finger literally fall off was rather embarrassing and was thankful that no one had seen. Sasori quickly put the finger back into the knuckle joint and made a fist to make sure everything was all right. It seemed fine though he knew he'd have to go back to his room since things were unfortunately more complicated than that, but he just decided to take the easy way out. When the embarrassing incident had been solved… rather lazily though, Sasori went on through the hall and into the kitchen.

He got into the common room and saw the others eating and talking through food filled mouths. None of them seemed to have noticed Sasori… or he didn't notice since he couldn't understand a word they were saying. Along with that, no one noticed the ring on his skinny finger but then it might have been the large shirt that Sasori seemed lost in. The sleeves were long and covered his hands unless rolled up, which he had when he was working on Hiruko but where now rolled back down. The lack of attention was actually in his favor though as he crossed through the room to go to the kitchen. The sooner he could make some food, the sooner he could get back to his room to eat and the sooner he could see what was wrong with his finger.

--

**Yesterday, I broke night typing and when I fell asleep, I had a dream that was like CCM. I was answering to the name Konan which was odd, hm. Anyway, Tobi was showing me this dance and I was trying to get someone to watch it since I thought it was really cute. I tried to get Pein to watch but he was too into his damned book. I kept going, "Peeeeiiiiin-saaaaaamaaaaaaaa!!!"but it didn't work, hm. -feels hurt- Anyway, that's just a random look in my crazy life. Hugs to all!**


	18. The Way The Puppet Dances

**Finally, hm! I haven't updated this story in a long time and I'm very sorry for it. I have been coming across issues on trying to get my ideas onto this site. Thanks so much for your patience with me, hm. You guys are the best. **

**Nothing here but the plot belongs to me.**

**Thankies to Panda-chan101, AlexPwnsJoo and xX-Puu-Xx.**

**Warnings: Santa bashing, emotional Itachi, football crazed Kisame and Zetsu (based on my parents when they watch football.) and Sasori going through Hell.**

--

While in the kitchen, Sasori made himself a quick dish and poured himself a cup of juice. As he did this, everything seemed fine and his finger showed no signs of coming off again like it did in the hallway. It was good news for him but he was still caution and tried to hurry, which turned out to be quite hard for the poor Akatsuki. Everything was put away and he was out the room as he dashed to his.

As soon as he entered his room, his quick pace cut to a normal one since he was now alone with his bedroom door closed. The redhead let out a sigh as he put his peanut butter and jelly sandwich on his dresser with his glass of fruit punch beside it. He was kind of hungry but it would have to wait for a moment.

Pulling his eyes from them, he turned his attention to his newly ringed finger. _Wonder what the problem is._ Sasori wanted to sigh again as he looked down to his hand with half lidded eyes. More would have been done until the need for food poked into his thoughts. It made him annoyed because of the interruption but he could only put it off for so long. Seconds after that, Sasori was on his bed with his plate on top of his crossed legs. He sat to the edge so he was close to his nightstand that held his juice. The first few bites were good until it came crashing down as he stared at the bitten sandwich. _Aw, I put too much jelly and not enough peanut butter!_ He sat the sandwich back down onto the eye-achingly white plate and then grabbed the edges of it. _Maybe I can sneak into the kitchen and put some more peanut butter._

For the second time in barely minutes, everything came crashing down when his finger broke off from his hand and fell onto the blanket. He didn't move but just stared at the wooden finger with the gray ring at the base of it. Patience wasn't something he had a lot of and it was border-lining zero. Now, there was a number two to his mental list of issues... his puppet finger. Just when he thought the sandwich was enough.

With a sigh, he put the skinny finger aside and continued to eat. He'd just have to get to it when he was finished. _How hard could it be to eat with only nine fingers?_ By the time he was done, Sasori had an answer to the question. It was kind of awkward and took longer than it usually does for him to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. As he shoved the plate from his lap and onto the dark bed sheets, he grabbed the skinny finger that still wore the ring.

Removing the two, he first examined the finger and found it to be normal and free of any damages. _Maybe it's just the sudden extra weight that it's carrying. If it doesn't get better, I'll have to do some construction… I'll save it as a last resort. _When he was done, he set it down and moved onto the ring. It seemed fine also though he decided he'd just have to wear it on a different finger then. Really, he liked it and loved to wear it as a way to support the beautiful art and spread what the true meaning of it. _Damn. Am I suffering for art._

Again, he took the finger into his hands and returned it to the knuckle joint where it belonged. Some quick tests were done like bending, wagging and other simple tasks. Everything turned out fine and now it was the ring's turn. Seemingly young hands surrounded the ring and lifted it from the blanket and then put it on another finger. When he was done, Sasori just watched and didn't even let go as if bracing himself for whatever would happen when he'd let go.

One quick breath and he let go, only to stare at his pale hand with the gray ring that seemed to stand out to even a dead person. The results made him smile but only a little and then he turned his head to his plate. Sasori dragged it closer to him until picking it up, along with his cup and left his room to the kitchen.

In the hallway, he stopped to the sound of the others laughing loudly and talking. He slowly continued until he got to the doorway of the living room. It was horrible that he would have to cross through to get to the kitchen. More laughing was done until Kakuzu began to talk.

"You know all those stories about Santa coming through the chimney and stuff? When I was little, I asked my parents how he'd come to put presents under the tree since we didn't have a chimney. They said that he gets on the fire escape from his sled, opens the window and gets in like that. I actually believed that shit, too!"

"Holy fuck! Santa's a home invader that comes in through the windows by the fire escape!"

That second person to talk sounded like Pein, which was kind of surprising since he was rarely in the living room. Even though, he was still in the Akatsuki so that meant he still had his share of things. A quick breath and Sasori was now in the common room. Usually, he got dragged into whatever they were doing or talking about so he tried to make it quick.

_Almost there. Almost-_

"Hey, Sasori, what did you think about Santa?"

_Aw, shit…_

Slowly, the short Akatsuki turned to see the others watching him. He frowned slightly since he got pulled into the very thing he was trying to avoid. "Santa?" he asked, "That fat ass that sits around just about every day in the North Pole and makes his elves create toys for him and forces the reindeer to drag his lazy self around the world to give gifts to little fucks who probably don't even deserve them and then eats their milk and cookies like what he does is very tiring but it's only because he's so goddamn huge and only gets actual exercise once a year? … And isn't even real?"

The response made the world stop as everyone stared with his or her mouths open. "Yeah. I never believed in him and the stories are stupid." Sasori said in one of those long story short tones. After that, they were quiet and some were even teary eyed. The silence was broken by a soft sniffle and someone whimpering, "Santa…?"

Hidan seemed to have been the very few that weren't shocked by what the other had said. "Told you." He said with his cheek in his hand and a bored expression. It made Sasori want to laugh because of the random words but he just smiled instead. Turning his small body, he went to continue his way through the room to get to the kitchen. A few steps and he stopped when he heard Itachi speaking to him.

"You know… you should watch it, Sasori."

Those few words were enough to make him turn to see the black-haired male. "You should watch it." He said again, even his dead tone being the same. Sasori didn't even get a chance to answer before the Uchiha went on, "Because you might not believe in Santa… but others do for the sake of Christmas spirit and that's one hell of a way to break it…" For some reason, he was getting this feeling in his gut that he was in for a speech but then tried to ignore it since Itachi very rarely ever gave speeches. He could see him give the small motion of inhaling, which meant he was going to keep going. "So… just watch it. Karma's a bitch."

Hearing the end, Sasori wasn't too sure of what to make out of what he had been told. _What the hell? Santa isn't real so how does Karma get into this? … And when did Itachi care so much about Christmas?_ Soon after, the last mental question was answered as another sniffle cracked the eerie silence. Surprisingly though, it was from Itachi as he sniffled again and then quickly sighed. A glare to Sasori and he was out the room. While it happened, his gaze followed him until he was gone. "Don't tell me…" he said out loud once he managed to put two and two together. No one answered him so he just took it as him being right.

The room returned to its silence and then he left to the kitchen. "People here are crazy." He whispered to himself as he put his plate into the sink. He didn't even bother to wash it since they took turns doing the dishes and this day wasn't his. Again, he turned to exit but slowly as he began to think of how to spend the rest of his day. It was just afternoon and he had nothing to do. Maybe he could just be lazy in the living room with the others.

When he got there, he took a seat and saw how the others were watching the new television they had gotten not too long ago. Sasori also noticed that Itachi hadn't come back yet from his mini depression. He didn't really care since he was probably just crushed and would get over it in due time. Even the most of the others were still in their depression moments from what he had said about Santa. Easily, he just ignored it though as he began to watch whatever was showing.

"What are we doing for today?" he finally asked when he began to lose interest in what was showing, which was a football game. Who watches men run around in skintight pants anyway. No one answered as if thinking and they began to shrug.

Cheers suddenly erupted by Kisame and Zetsu who were watching the football game. "GO, DUDE, GO! YYYYYEAH! TOUCHDOWN, MOTHER FUCKERS!" they both yelled as they watched one of the players throw the football into the ground and break into dance. The sudden yelling made everyone jump and Sasori took a curious look at the screen to see what happened. As he turned, Zetsu throw up his hands, one holding a cup and the contents spilled out and fell onto Sasori.

For a moment, he could see nothing until he found out his bright red hair was now dark red and heavy from being wet. They covered his red-brown eyes so he couldn't see much. Along with that, Sasori felt the distant feeling of something dripping from his hair to his neck.

Everything went quiet and no one moved after that. It felt like even time and the football game stood still. Zetsu didn't even say anything but watched as the other sent a smooth hand through the drenched locks. "Oh, man. I'm so sorry." He began to apologize with a hand out to Sasori. Nothing was said back since he was in a cloud of confusion since everything happened so quickly. When his hand reached the end of his head, he waved his hand free of the liquid.

"Is this… Dr. Pepper?"

Sasori asked to himself but loud enough for the others to hear. He was going to say more until he got a bounty shoved to him by Zetsu. He took the bounty slowly and began to dry himself with it. _Ugh, this is gross. I'm drenched in fucking soda. _The angry thoughts mumbled as he shook his head. Drops of soda went everywhere and his hair went back to its usual messy state.

It was then that snickers went around and eventually, full-blown laughter. All eyes were on Sasori though they didn't hear his whisper of, "Idiots…" The laughing went on while he balled his hands into small fists and began to rub his eyes. He could literally see the sparkles of soda that were in his dark eyelashes.

The rubbing of his eyes slowed and then came to a sudden stop when something felt wrong. It wasn't that he was being laughed at since stupid things that like happened a lot with the Akatsuki and you just get used to it most of the time. _Something is off. What could it be?_ Sasori slowly wondered to himself as he pulled his fists away from his closed eyes.

When he felt that his fists were far enough, he opened his eyes and slowly blinked. It took a moment to get used to the light in the room and recover after so much rubbing. What he came face to face with was what he quickly learned that others were laughing about.

"WHERE THE FUCK IS MY FINGER?!"

Sasori shrieked when he saw one of his puppet fingers were missing. Not surprisingly, it was the one that had on the gray ring that he had found. No one bothered to say anything and just laughed even more at his reaction.

Quickly looking around, he found it on the floor near him. It looks wet from the soda but as least he didn't step on it or something. Bending down, he quickly picked it up and covered it in a fist. He didn't say anything but quickly left to his bedroom, the embarrassment becoming too much for him.

--

Now in his room, Sasori was on his bed with his face buried into the fluffy pillow. He still held his finger in his hand but he just wanted to lie in bed until it felt like everything blew over. Of course, that's not how things worked. _I bet they won't let this down for days!_

With a sigh and a moment of just letting his mind wander, he rolled onto his side and then sat up. He glanced down to his hand and then slowly opened it to see the wooden finger that he had so quickly swiped from the floor. "Just my luck…" he sighed as he took it between two other fingers and tried to return it back to it's joint.

A simple push and twist, and it was back to normal. It still had on the gray ring though Sasori didn't notice… or didn't care at the moment. When the task was done, he threw himself back onto his bed and stared up at the ceiling.

"Why me…?" he whined in a whisper.

The answer soon arrived though it was another thought. _Why not give it to one of my puppets? Art needs to stick together. _Slowly, Sasori turned his head to see the puppets on the other side of the room. As he did, some of his hair fell over his eyes, which suggested to him that he needed to take a shower from the soda incident.

Just the memory of it made his mouth bent into a frown. He then tried to ignore it and got up from his bed. Crossing the small bedroom, Sasori stopped at one of his favorite puppets. When he got to his destination, he placed a hand on Hiruko and then smiled. "Here" he said in a low voice and put it on the puppet. Of course, it said nothing back but it didn't matter.

Sasori took a step back to admire the puppet with the new accessory. Nothing more was done for a moment as he watched and then turned to gather some clothing for when he would take a shower. He could already imagine all the scrubbing he'd have to do to get the entire soda gunk out of his hair.

Carelessly, he went through his dresser and threw some clothing over his shoulder. When he had everything he needed, he pushed the draw shut and continued out the room.

--

In his bedroom, sounds from the bathroom could be heard. A door opening, then closing followed by the shower being turned on. The tapping of water became steady until abruptly ending a good twenty minutes later and there being almost total silence. More minutes went by and then the sound of a door opened and lightly closing came into play. Light footsteps created almost a heartbeat tune and eventually, Sasori was back in his room.

Just from the look of him, one could tell Sasori was feeling better than before. His hair had been washed and he now felt relaxed from a warm shower. He dumped in old clothing into a hamper that was in his room and went back to Hiruko. He still didn't feel like facing the others after what had happened and just planned on staying in his room for a while.

Taking up some string and other supplies, he began to lift his hands slightly and Hiruko sprang to life. Though this was a very basic way to control puppet, it was still a very fun one. One twist of the wrist and a very slight thumb movement sent the puppet to face him. The actions continued until Sasori had a smile showing and brought one of his hands closer to him, which Hiruko danced to.

The fun went on until Sasori lost track of the time though froze when he saw one of his most beloved puppets drop lifelessly to the floor. His smile was quickly replaced with confused as he watched the wooden puppet lay on the floor without even the slightest movement.

_What happened?_

Slowly, he took small steps to the puppet and stared down to it. It looked fine but what it did a moment ago wasn't. Sasori reached forward and began to tilt Hiruko side to side, so he could see if there were any problems. Everything seemed all right until he tilted it to the side once more and stopped. The limb where he had put the ring on the puppet had come off completely. Hiruko's arm was separated from the rest of it on the floor, which had the ringed finger.

Another disaster created by the ring. This was becoming too much and his patience was now in the negatives. _After so much work I put into this… the arm comes off… because of that goddamn ring?!_ Sasori raged thoughts flared. Taking up the arm, he quickly took the ring and ran out of his bedroom.

He didn't care what the others would say to him if they saw him or anything. He was just fed up with the ring and wanted it long gone. Already, Sasori had an idea on how to make it work. He was now in the hallway and with a quick turn, he ran into the common room. Almost everyone was there, even Itachi, but no one said anything to him… probably to keep from laughing at the memory of the soda accident.

Sasori didn't even care or even bother to look at them. He crossed the room and dashed into the kitchen. By now, he was rushing even more, knowing he was so close to his goal that he didn't even notice Konan who was fiddling with a bag of potato chips.

He couldn't wait any longer and just threw the ring towards the garbage can. Sure, Sasori could have waited until he was close enough to just place it in but patience wasn't even a thought at the moment. He didn't see if the ring made it into the garbage can and he didn't need to because he knew that it'd be long gone from him.

Turning around, he ran out the room with his feet pounding onto the floor. The sounds got lighter and lighter, the further he got. All the sudden-ness of everything made Konan gasp loudly and jump, not even giving the potato chips bag any thought. It was then that the bag burst open and fell to the floor from her hands. The bag fell quickly and potato chips littered the floor just as fast.

Seeing what had happened, she let out an irritated sigh and shook her head. As she did this, she put a hand over her eyes and eventually went to get a broom to sweep the mess. Only in the Akatsuki.

--

**There we go. This chapter turned out to be longer than I thought but it's actually better this way. Hm, there is only one more chapter left and then the story is over. I will say that there's going to be a bit of a surprise ending. Also, I may write an epilogue for this. Hugs to all!**


	19. Revenge Is A Sweet Gift To An Old Friend

**Yes! This chapter is finally up! I was having Writer's Block... which is kind of odd to me because this is the ending of the story. Oh, well. I'm just happy I finally got this one out.**

**Bad news: I don't own Naruto or the Akatsuki... or a mood ring.**

**Good news: I'm still writing fictions... troubles or no troubles.**

**Thankies to: N.E.May and Panda-chan101!**

**Big thankies to: XFamousXLastXWordsX, Ulquiorra317 and SuperGrouper!**

"Oh, God dammit!" Konan said to herself as she flopped her arms that were at her sides. She was on her way to get the broom for the potato chip mess when she couldn't help but hold in her anger any longer. One more annoyed sigh was heard from her and she wrapped her hand around the wooden broom that was on the other side of the room. Lazily, she dragged it back to the scene of the accident and began to sweep up the chips. It was amazing that no one had come to check on her but then it was kind of expected. When she made it back, she started to sweep them up into a big pile and then left to get the dustpan.

Soon, she returned with the pan in hand and started to sweep the un-wanted snack onto it. Of course, there were some small pieces that didn't make it onto the pan but then that was something that always happened and always annoyed Konan. Her strokes quickened as she tried to get the mini chips to group with the others but it wasn't working out. More force was put into it and her eyes narrowed to her whisper, "Come on already!"

It was then she became careless about the situation and stopped her sweeping. _Who'll notice micro sized crumbs on the floor anyway?_ She wondered and then eventually shrugged to herself. Setting the broom aside, she picked up the pan and began to throw it out in the trashcan. "Damn, perfect waste." Konan couldn't help but crumble with a frown as she stared into the bin.

"Hey! Where the fuck are the chips?"

None other than Hidan shouted the demand from the living room and she frowned even more. "They got all over the floor and I had to throw them out," she said back, not even yelling since they weren't even that far apart. Nothing else was said until he replied, "Then get something else!" _Ugh! Men and their stupid demands! _

"Come and get 'something else' yourself!" She yelled back, now leaning forward to get something from the refrigerator.

"What the fuck did you just say to me?!"

"I said you come here and get something your own God damn self!"

The yelling went on until someone eventually broke it up for sake of keeping the windows intact. By then, Hidan was mumbling to himself and Konan was still in the kitchen but for herself. She was now out of the fridge and in front of a counter. Slowly, she got herself some water and planned to get some Advil from the bathroom afterwards. _These people will be the death of me one day. Bless the person to made Tylenol._

Wrapping her fingers around the cup, she picked it up from the counter and left to the bathroom. Turning on the light when she got there, she set the glass on the counter and began to search for the medicine. It didn't take long to find since it was in its usual spot. Konan smiled at the sight of it and picked out two tablets from the bottle before closing and returning it.

Without another thought, she brought her hand to her mouth and took in the pills. After a quick shot of water, she swallowed and sighed. There was still more left in the cup, which she slowly sipped on the way back to the kitchen so she could put the cup in the sink.

Her presence in the living room caused a bit of chaos as Kakuzu quickly scrabbled to his feet from his seat on the sofa. "Konan! There's chips all over the floor in the kitchen!" he complained with a hand to the kitchen. The blue haired woman just stared and wondered out loud, "Then why didn't you clean it up?"

"The commercials were finished… now, clean it up before we get bugs or rats or some shit! You know how I feel about hiring an exterminator!"

"Fine, fine"

Eventually, she gave in and went to the kitchen. _I'm going there anyway._ She told herself, as if trying to look on the bright side about it. As soon as she got to the doorway, she stopped with her eyes wide. "What the hell happened?" Konan gasped at the sight of a few potato chips on the floor. _Didn't I sweep those up and put them in the trash?_

For the second time that day, Konan swept up the chips and tossed them into the trashcan. As she slowly turned from the garbage, she paused at a sudden movement. She began to look around the room to see what had caused at rapid movement but then stopped when she found nothing.

Carelessly tossing the idea, Konan returned the broom and dustpan. Again, she paused but now to the sound of squeaking and very tiny crawling noises. "Don't tell me…" she whispered to herself as her mind went into overdrive on what could be causing the sounds.

She didn't even want to look but eventually, she did and saw a small gray rat that was near the trashcan. It looked like it was on a mission, trying to get into it. Konan suddenly became paralyzed but by a mix of thought and fear. _So that's how the chips got out of the trashcan, a rat… A RAT!?_

"AHMAHGAWD!"

The cry was loud enough for everyone to hear and then some. Fear and adrenaline began to pump as Konan gripped onto the broom and quickly began to swat at the rat. "Die, you mother fucking rat!" she continued to cry out, which got everyone crowded in the doorway to see what was going on.

More swatting occurred until Tobi pushed some of them aside so he could get into the kitchen. As he got into the room, he stopped with a hand out to Konan, "No! Leave Timmi alone!" The plea made Konan pause, which gave the rat time to run and hide. Seeing how the mouse got away, she whispered a few curses and looked at the one who was at fault for letting the rat get away.

Konan didn't say a word before Tobi took another step closer to her as he searched the floor quickly. "Where's Timmi?" he asked over and over. _Timmi? He actually named the rat… Timmi?_ "Wahh! Konan! How could you trick Tobi? Tobi thought Timmi was here!" he whined with his hands waving in the air.

"No, Tobi. I didn't trick yo-"

"Yes, you did! You were screaming about a mouse and-"

"Because there was a rat here!"

"No! Stop trying to trick Tobi and don't call him a rat. Tobi named the him Timmi and you said there was a mouse here so-"

"BE QUIET! There was a mouse here! Timmi was here!"

The masked Akatsuki grew quiet as he took in her words. The silence made her smile but then she gasped at a shriek from Tobi. "AHHHHH! YOU KILLED TIMMI!!!" he screamed as the others jumped at the sudden change in volume. _This can't be happening._ Konan thought to herself with a shocked expression. There was no way of dealing with Tobi when he got like this.

"I didn't kill Timmi. I was… trying to kill him?" she explained but then ended her words in a whisper. It was times like this that you just had to be straight out about things and just hope for the best… but things didn't work like that in the Akatsuki. "YOU DID WHAT?! K-KO… KONAN! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO… TO TOBI?!" Tobi continued to scream but now with his hands turned into shaking fists. He even began to stutter, which meant that he was probably crying also.

Without another word, Tobi rushed out off the kitchen to his room. All that was left was Konan and the others that were watching the drama. "Great. He'll never let this go…" she said to herself as she turned around. Might as well throw out the trash 'fore that damned rat comes back for seconds. She thought to herself with a frown. She made her way back to it and pulled out the trash bag and went to throw it out.

It didn't take long and she was already putting a fresh bag in the trashcan. They better thank me for this later. As she continued to lean forward as she tucked the edges of the bag under the plastic rim of the trash can. The simple chore stopped when she saw something on the floor near it. Konan's curious caused her pace to quicken so she could see what was on the floor.

"How nice." Konan said to herself as she now stared down to a gray ring, "Who'd leave something like this lying around?" The question just flooded in the air as she reached for it and held the piece of jewelry in her hands. Now, standing up straight, she had more light on it. Wonder what it's doing here. _Someone probably lost it… but it doesn't look like something one of these guys would wear. Still…_ The thoughts went on until it stopped and a smile on her features showed.

Silently, she slipped it onto her finger and watched it with a smile. The contact with her skin almost instantly jumped started the color from a dreary gray to a happy blue color. "Ah!" Konan squealed with joy at the color change, "It's a mood ring!" Unlike the others, she knew all about mood rings but unfortunately, not about the chaos it brought. The squeal didn't change the color of the newly found ring but then Konan didn't expect it to. She, like many others, knew also about the colors what each meant.

_This is so cool! Who'd be stupid enough to leave a mood ring lying around?_ By now, her smile was a huge grin as she turned to the doorway to show the others. The grin and color died down when she saw that the others were gone. Aw, man. They all left. Konan's thought whined as the once blue color deepened into a black. A glance down to the ring and she saw the dramatic color change. "It's okay…" she said to it and tried to give a smile. A look forward made her expression change to one of slight determination as Konan rushed out the room to find the others. She just had to share the good news with someone.

The first place to search was the living room but no one was there. _Maybe they went to their rooms… or they're somewhere in the halls walking around._ A thought whispered and Konan began to walk into one of the halls. It was quiet like no one was there but her. Still, she went down it in search of her friends.

Some searching did her good as she began to hear footsteps. They sounded heavy and quick and Konan began to have thoughts on who the person it could be. She followed the noises and almost collided with Pein who was walking the halls for whatever reason.

"Hey, Pein!" Konan began to talk, not even bothering to apologize. The other sighed and began to pat down their clothing from the small collision. "What is it?" he asked as he finished and looked at the excited woman. She said nothing but showed him the ring she had found. Again, it was a glowing blue like how it was when she had first tried it on.

Still, nothing was said as the other stared down to the ring. Konan's smile died now a bit, as she noticed how Pein wasn't replying. "Well? What do you think?" she asked when she found the silence to be a bit awkward. The questions broke him from his mini trance with the ring as he turned his attention to Konan. "It's… nice…?" he asked with a shrug towards the end. It all made her laugh and waved a hand to him.

"Thanks. Isn't it nice? It's a mood ring a-"

"Where'd you get that from?"

The question was said at lightening pace though Konan heard every word. The ring changed to orange as she frowned to the curious yet worried expression on Pein's face. This time, she was the one to shrug, "On the kitchen floor. It was just lying there so I just took it… why?"

"Everyone knows mood rings do nothing but bring trouble to the people who wear it!" Pein said with fists that were brought up to his chest, "It practically screams to the world your emotions and they're something that's very private."

Again, the hall went silent as Konan took a peek at the orange ring. _Well… when he says it like that..._ She thought to herself and looked back to Pein. "I never thought of it like that." She shared in a hushed tone. He just nodded and un-balled his fists. "It's okay. I just want to tell you since it's something most people don't feel comfortable with. Though I highly recommend getting rid of it and saving yourself the trouble."

_Saving myself the trouble, huh?_ She questioned with yet enough look to her new ring. _What troubles could this bring me?_ Seconds after, a mental clip began to play in her mind of her throwing a bit of a fit because of whatever reason and the others poking fun that it's her time of the month and using her blood red ring as proof. _Heh… that doesn't seem so bad._ She thought, trying to calm herself. Still, it didn't help as more began to play.

"Alright." Konan said out loud when it became all too much. Slowly, she tugged the ring from her finger and looked to Pein. "You're right. It'll be best if I got rid of it. Maybe… a mood ring isn't good for me." She said and gave it to his outstretched hand. He said nothing but nodded. Taking the ring into his own hands, he looked down to it as if wondering. "What are you going to do with it?" she asked him.

Pein didn't answer but just continued to toss the now gray ring around in his hand. Suddenly, he paused and looked at the female Akatsuki with a smirk. "We'll give it to an old friend." He said to her.

--

Half an hour past and the two were outside, near where Orochimaru and his other friends lived. Pein seemed to have an entire plan in his mind but Konan curiously followed along. "Who are you giving it to? Who's this… 'old friend'?" she asked, not aware of how close they were to Orochimaru's apartment building.

"We're going to give it to Orochimaru." Pein revealed with a sneaky smirk and took Konan into the building. Thankfully, they got into the lobby without problem and took the elevator up. The short ride was done in silence until another question was asked. "How do you where he lives?" Konan asked, still a bit curious on everything. Pein just looked to her and explained, "Because of that letter he sent to us on April Fool's Day. I kept the address for something like this. This is a good way to get back at him. It's for leaving us and going to those losers… and because I have no sense in fashion. Bastard said my piercings looked stupid."

Konan just nodded along to his words as pieces began to fit together and the picture was clear. "Alright." She finally said and soon after, the metal doors opened. Quickly, they got out and walked down the hall to his apartment. After a few doors, they stopped to the one that they was searching for and knocked on it. When that was done, Pein dropped the ring onto the small welcome rug and took Konan down the hall and began into the waiting elevator.

As they did this, they could hear something yell, "Someone get the fuckin' door!" which made them run faster. The two made it just in time because as the metal doors silently closed, they heard the echoing call, "Yes?"

--

Orochimaru curiously stood in the doorway of the apartment and looked into the hall. He leaned side to side so he could see if there was anyone there. "Hello?" he asked out when he saw no one. _Weird. Probably a mistake._ He thought to himself until he lowered his eyes down to the small rug. "Hey! What's this?" Orochimaru cried out as he went to pick up the item. A quick study of the item showed it was a small gray ring.

--

**Chapter 19 is officially down and I hope everyone liked it. I've decided that I will write a short epilogue for this. After that, the story will really be finished, hm. Thankies and hugs to all.**


	20. Is This When We Start Clapping?

**Here we go with the epilogue to CCM. I don't know how I came up with the title but I like it for some odd reason. Anyway, hm, some simple stuff to note and we can get moving.**

**Thankies to... Panda-chan101 and XFamousXLastXWordsX**

**I don't own the Akatsuki... or anything here but the plot.**

**Important Reminders:** **This_ is _an epilogue so it's short and yes, I admit that. There is also a time skip from the previous chapter.**

--

Flowers swayed left to right as a breeze swooped by but then rattled harshly as a masked person wearing an Akatsuki cloak ran past them. Again, Tobi had snuck outside to try and get a little entertainment into his day. He and the others were free of the mood rings curse and were back to their chaotic ways. Though he had never told anyone about the ring, he was happy about it disappearance. As long as it wasn't near him or the others, he was fine. The ring may have been gone, though his clumsy actions still continued... but it was just something that everyone had to live with.

Back with the others, it was the usual scene in the common room. Itachi was trying to read, Kisame was watching television, Deidara was sitting on the floor with a wad of clay all while Hidan was yelling at a hysterical Kakuzu. Sasori, Pein and Konan were nowhere to be seen but that was just plain expected and Zetsu was tending to his plants.

"Oh my Jashin... you fucking dumbass! Of course if you let a vacuum suck in a coin, you'll be able to get it out!"

"Quit yelling at me, Hidan! This is serious business! That was a God damn quarter, too! Why the hell do these things happen to me?!"

Things were also back to normal with Zetsu because he hadn't experience another floral death like what had happened with Rukia. On top of that, the little bud he had given so much love finally bloomed which made his golden eyes twinkle with joyous tears. The moment was even celebrated with random pictures taken from the official Akatsuki camera.

Since the ring had been gone, everything began to look up for the group's beloved puppet master, too. Sasori had gotten around to making a new puppet though it came nowhere close to his favorite one, Hiruko. The two had changed for the better when they noticed the ring's mysterious yet blessed vanishing act since they hadn't had any complications or damages.

The others still poked fun at him about what happened with the soda. Usually, they'd wake up the next morning, paralyzed with killer headache that would last Sasori-knows-how-long from a pleasant dose from one of his favorite concoctions. It was known in the group that he was a sadistic little one to match. Watching someone lay practically dead with a blinding headache would seem like a great way to pass a boring afternoon to him and forget about medicine.

The two responsible for the cursed piece of jewelry's were also enjoying how the group returned back to its usual-ness. Even if Pein and Konan managed to dodge the wave of negative events, they were still happy that it had been taken away from them and now in a place were it would come in handy. Could you imagine what hell would break loose if something was to happen to the two sanest members of the Akatsuki? Sure, the others were sane too but they just weren't the sharpest butter knives the group had to offer.

Also, if any time that they heard or saw something on the television about a purple rope belt, they were always the ones to laugh. The two never bothered to tell any of the other members and it eventually became somewhat of an inside joke. Who knows... maybe they'll end up getting a call from Orochimaru in jail or something.

--

**Yay, another completed story! Thankies and hugs to everyone who read, reviewed, etc. because you all rock. I hope you all enjoyed the story. The next Naruto story that I'll write will most likely be Makeup and there's information about that on my profile. Along with that, I started somewhat of a journal to keep track of my writing and stuff. I hope it proves usefull to people.**

**Again, thanks and hugs to all:)**

**Much love, hm... Kris**


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